{"id":344979,"date":"2026-06-21T20:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/344979\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T20:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:06:21","slug":"with-many-data-centers-considering-lubbock-mayor-wants-huge-public-meeting-to-discuss-this-controversial-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/344979\/","title":{"rendered":"With many data centers considering Lubbock, mayor wants huge public meeting to discuss this controversial issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot of data centers are looking at Lubbock, and before the city makes decisions, Mayor Mark McBrayer wants to discuss the issue \u2013 with a lot of people.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s organizing a public meeting for July 7. The time is not yet finalized, but McBrayer estimated 5:30 p.m. at Lubbock Civic Center \u2013 in the Moe Turner Banquet Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can get, I think maybe 1,000 people in there \u2026 So, we figured there\u2019ll be a big turnout,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n

A data center town hall meeting in May had to limit attendance when people completely filled the Club Level in the west press box at Jones AT&T Stadium.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d like to avoid a circumstance where people might be kept out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of them that are looking at Lubbock and wanting to be here. Yes, there are quite a few,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to get out in front of it. We\u2019ve not made any agreements with anybody. \u2026 We want to get out ahead of it with the public and let them know how we are approaching the issue and dealing with all these concerns,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n

He mentioned water use, power use, location and noise pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll those things that everybody\u2019s concerned about; we\u2019re concerned about them too,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Fired\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tFired Fermi CEO Toby Neugebauer claims Cody Campbell caused his removal during battle to control huge data center<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 18, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Process\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tProcess starts for moratorium on new data centers in Lubbock \u2013 what it would do, who supports it, what critics say<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 8, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Water,\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tWater, power, accountability, staying ahead of China and other nations: Lubbock forum does deep dive on data centers<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 27, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Fermi\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tFermi fight \u2013 going all-out for control of massive project on Texas Tech property<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 20, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Texas\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tTexas Tech, Fermi team up on Project Matador to power artificial intelligence near Pantex plant in Panhandle<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 29, 2025\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201c[We\u2019ll] then have an opportunity to hear from them before we ever get around to actually considering a particular data center,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n

Lubbock has made no offer to any prospective data center developer, the mayor said. But he wants to be ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re looking at locations outside the city, but some of them would like to be incorporated into the city limits. If they go out in the county, they\u2019re no concern of ours. There\u2019s nothing we can do about it. But if they want to be annexed into the city, then there would be conditions we would obviously put on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

What would those conditions be? McBrayer said the meeting will include a City Council discussion on that very question. It will be posted as a public meeting to meet the state\u2019s open meeting laws.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 They would [need to] provide a significant benefit to the citizens and taxpayers at the end of the day, because if there\u2019s not a significant benefit, there\u2019s no reason for us to do it,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n

McBrayer\u2019s former opponent in the 2026 race for mayor, Stephen Sanders, started a signature petition in early June to force the city into either accepting an 18-month moratorium on data center projects or taking the question to local voters. We covered it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of McBrayer\u2019s concerns he voiced to LubbockLights.com overlapped with Sanders\u2019 concerns \u2013 such as water consumption for cooling large computer networks and local power consumption.<\/p>\n


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