{"id":431743,"date":"2026-09-10T13:28:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/431743\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T13:28:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:28:40","slug":"tarrant-commissioner-data-center-debate-transcends-partisan-sides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/431743\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarrant commissioner: Data center debate \u2018transcends partisan sides\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The debate over data centers \u201cis an issue that transcends partisan sides\u201d and one where the Texas Legislature could set standard criteria for projects while leaving much else to the cities, Tarrant County Commissioner Matt Krause<\/a> said after hosting a town hall Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to have some guardrails,\u201d Krause said in an interview with the Fort Worth Report after hearing from constituents at Precinct 3\u2019s Gary Fickes Northeast Courthouse in Hurst.<\/p>\n

The town hall\u2019s 23 speakers included some from The Lakes at Marshall Ridge Homeowners Association in Keller, a neighborhood adjacent to a planned data center in Westlake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A number of the evening\u2019s speakers said they accepted the need for data centers, given the growth in artificial intelligence. However, they added that such developments must include regulations on water usage, power consumption, noise and neighborhood setbacks. They also questioned whether municipalities need to offer financial incentives to attract data centers, and whether developers, operators and public officials can be trusted.<\/p>\n

Some compared the growth of data centers to a speculative gold rush that could abate, or to the spread of regional malls that are now outdated and being demolished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not against development, but it has to be done intelligently,\u201d said Cate Brennan, a Democrat who is running for the open Texas House 98 seat<\/a> against Republican Armin Mizani. The district is home to 16 cities<\/a>, including Grapevine, Keller, Southlake, Colleyville, Euless and Westlake.<\/p>\n

Krause, a Republican, ran a Q&A session with the crowd after hearing the speakers and acknowledged the need for protections multiple times. \u201cSomething new needs to happen,\u201d he told the audience.<\/p>\n

To the Marshall Ridge residents who asked who they could trust, Krause replied \u201cthat\u2019s a very good question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not on the ballot,\u201d said Krause, whose term runs through 2028. \u201cThis isn\u2019t about campaign postures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krause said it\u2019s possible that the county could develop a legislative agenda for the 2027 session<\/a> and that data centers fit into it.<\/p>\n

One conceivable regulatory model that emerges divides responsibility between the state and cities, he told the Report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state has certain responsibility, but they leave a lot of discretion to the cities,\u201d he said. \u201cI could see all that being part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Checklists that sort out viable projects from speculative ones are already gaining traction<\/a> in Texas and locally.<\/p>\n

The Fort Worth City Council voted last month to require that data center applications meet and follow rules in compliance with Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s statewide audit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see that the state has a checklist that says you\u2019ve got to meet all these criteria before the project even gets started,\u201d Krause said.<\/p>\n

One Keller resident, Holly Doty, called for regulations that \u201cmandate immediate public disclosure\u201d on data center projects that are in the works. She also said zoning regulations should require substantial separation of data centers from neighborhoods so the projects aren\u2019t just \u201chiding behind landscaping and berms.\u201d<\/p>\n

With fears that the growth of data centers will overtax the state\u2019s power grid and lead to inflation in wholesale and retail electricity prices, some speakers said regulations should steer toward projects that generate their own power and have minimal impact on water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the baseline of all baselines,\u201d Krause said. \u201cProvide your own energy. Provide your own water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krause probed that question further, asking some of the commenters whether they\u2019d be OK with a data center project that has its own energy source, minimal water usage and minimal noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we need to tinker around here, or is it just a nonstarter down in Austin?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

When one speaker criticized tax incentives for data center projects<\/a>, Krause responded, \u201cI would be surprised if Austin didn\u2019t take a hard look at getting rid of those\u201d in the upcoming Legislature.<\/p>\n

Scott Nishimura is senior editor for local government accountability and a Fort Worth City Hall reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org.<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The debate over data centers \u201cis an issue that transcends partisan sides\u201d and one where the Texas Legislature…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-431743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431743","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=431743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}