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BASTROP — Area residents gathered July 22 for a community-focused town hall to push for greater transparency and local oversight over data center development in Bastrop County.
The event follows recent company-hosted meetings including a series of EdgeConneX town halls that many said left pressing questions unresolved. Attendees continued to explore concerns about the company’s projects in Cedar Creek, where one data center is under construction near Wolf Lane and FM 535 and two more remain in development.
Residents are considering how the facilities may affect future development and long-term impacts on water resources, electric demand, noise, farmland and nearby neighborhoods.
However, not every speaker opposed the statewide spike in development.
CALLS FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told attendees he supports technological growth but believes the state has moved too quickly without adequate safeguards.
“We have to put some guardrails around this industry, or we’re going to be in a huge train wreck,” Miller said. “We’re losing a farm a week.”
Miller has called for a one-year pause on new data center development to give lawmakers time to establish statewide standards on water use, electric demand and land preservation.
When residents asked Miller about environmental repercussions tied to data center projects statewide, he said a lack of oversight is the core problem.
“These are the kinds of questions that we need the Legislature to address,” Miller said. “Right now, there’s no answer because they don’t answer to anyone. There’s no regulation — there’s no oversight.”
LOCAL PROPOSALS
Elgin attorney Nick Lealos urged county leaders to adopt what he called a “Bastrop Bill of Rights,” which would require developers seeking tax abatements to disclose water and electrical usage details, publish project documents online and support the creation of a citizen advisory committee.
“If we are included in the process … we will be better situated to both understand the cost to our county and also perhaps put a stop to some of these bad projects before they actually get off the ground,” Lealos said.
Data center proponents also took the stand.
Cameron Dodd, political director for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 520, said data center construction has become one of the largest sources of construction work in Central Texas, employing hundreds of union members.
Dodd said he supports stronger regulation but believes tax abatements can be leveraged to require labor agreements and workforce investment.
“Data centers are kind of like the main game in town when it comes to good construction work,” Dodd said. “We have hundreds of members just in our union working in them, depending on them to feed our families.”
COUNTY AUTHORITY
A letter from Commissioner Butch Carmack, read aloud during the meeting, said state law limits the county’s ability to block private commercial developments that meet legal requirements.
Carmack said tax abatements remain one of the county’s few tools to negotiate environmental protections and community benefits, and noted the county is updating its abatement policy.
A separate data center proposal from Pacifico Energy currently remains under county review.
STATE RESPONSE
The town hall came one day before Gov. Greg Abbott announced that a Henderson County data center proposed by Diode had withdrawn after failing to meet the state’s expectations.
“Data centers that want to do business in Texas must meet a clear standard,” Abbott said in a statement. “Texas requires companies to put communities first, protect our natural resources and power grid and respect the quality of life of our residents.”
Abbott also announced plans to pursue legislation requiring data centers to report annual water and electricity usage while eliminating certain tax incentives for the industry.
