{"id":339679,"date":"2026-06-17T10:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339679\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:34:09","slug":"rural-north-texas-counties-trying-to-regulate-data-centers-face-legal-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339679\/","title":{"rendered":"Rural North Texas counties trying to regulate data centers face legal threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tensions flared at a recent public meeting in Hood County that devolved into a shouting match<\/a> between county attorney Matthew Mills and residents who oppose data centers.<\/p>\n

“How much did y’all get paid?” asked a resident.<\/p>\n

“Not a dime,” Mills said. “You’re accusing people of being crooks!”<\/p>\n

That day commissioners were voting to approve another data center project<\/a> called Comanche Circle without conditions after the developer threatened to sue. Mills told KERA many residents want to stop the industry from moving in \u2014 but commissioners are only upholding the law to avoid legal action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a sense, I think, of \u2018we can’t keep doing this, and we got to pick our battles here,\u2019\u201d Mills said. <\/p>\n

There are at least nine proposed projects in Hood and nearby Somervell counties, which have a combined population of about 80,000 people. Concerned residents say the projects could raise their electricity bills, use up water resources and ruin tourism for nearby Dinosaur Valley State Park.<\/p>\n

“I would be able to see the entire Comanche Circle project from my backyard,” said Joanne Carcamo, who lives in Somervell County and spoke at the meeting.<\/p>\n

\"Protest<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KERA News<\/p>\n

Protest signs reading “Don’t Data Center My Hood County” are displayed at a town hall meeting on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Carcamo co-founded the advocacy group Protect the Paluxy, which opposes data center construction in the region.<\/p>\n

“There really are no studies on these impacts and [I hope] that they set some parameters to limit these developers from building these things in rural areas and next to state parks,” Carcamo said. “We spend so much money as a state on our parks and they bring in so much money, you know, and tourism, it would just be devastating.”<\/p>\n

Lack of local control<\/p>\n

As rural leaders try to slow or regulate the influx of new data centers, some companies are using lawsuits to push developments forward in Texas and across the nation.<\/p>\n

In Michigan, a town faced legal pressure from a developer<\/a> after leaders voted to limit data center construction. The town settled, allowing the facility to be built.<\/p>\n

In Hill County, south of Fort Worth, commissioners rescinded a moratorium on data center construction<\/a> after a company sued for $100 million dollars, arguing the county didn\u2019t have the legal authority to impose the ban.<\/p>\n

The proposed language by the party\u2019s Legislative Priorities Committee appears to have strong support from rural delegates, but it potentially stands at odds with the priorities of Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re not going to see anybody else trying a moratorium at this point because they’ve seen what happens when you do it,” said Robert Paterson, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in land use law. “You basically just get clubbed with a ridiculous amount of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paterson said counties have few options for regulating development because local control is limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole reason why we’re seeing this boom in Texas is I think, kind of referred to as kind of the yee-haw, you know, regulatory environment,” Paterson said. “Like, anything goes.”<\/p>\n

Industry response<\/p>\n

Dan Diorio is with the Data Center Coalition, a national group that lobbies for the industry. He told KERA data facilities are a crucial part of the state\u2019s digital infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s every telehealth appointment, every electronic health care record, every online classroom, every online purchase or banking and financial transaction, state and local governments, national security, military purposes, you name it,\u201d Diorio said.<\/p>\n

When counties try to pass moratoriums, he said it hinders the industry\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are billions of dollars of investments,” Diorio said. “Any uncertainty or unpredictability is going to significantly impact that investment and the viability of that project.”<\/p>\n

Still, residents in rural counties want to see some regulations. In Somervell County, leaders approved a resolution opposing new data centers until the state offers more guidance<\/a>. County Commissioner Chip Joslin said while nearby Hill County had to walk back its pause, the outcome was still productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it did is it drove several other data center developers to the table to talk to them because, you know, we don’t get that a lot of times,\u201d Joslin told KERA.<\/p>\n

Hill County now has a list of development rules for data centers \u2014 something Rita Beving, with the advocacy group Public Citizen, said is a step in the right direction. Now, she said it\u2019s up to lawmakers to take up the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur legislators need to wake up down in Austin and see what is really going on on the ground in these communities,\u201d Beving said.<\/p>\n

As public pressure builds, state officials are starting to take action. Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott directed public utilities<\/a> to ensure electricity costs tied to data centers aren\u2019t passed on to residents, and pledged to work with legislators to codify protections.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Republican Party of Texas also announced that regulating large-scale data centers is one of its priorities<\/a> in next year’s legislative session. <\/p>\n

Pablo Arauz Pe\u00f1a is KERA\u2019s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today<\/a>. Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tensions flared at a recent public meeting in Hood County that devolved into a shouting match between county…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-339679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}