Facing the Threat of Being Sued by the State, Hood County Again Rejects Data Center Moratorium
‘If state lawmakers are not willing to help local communities, they should at least get out of the way’
GRANBURY, Texas — For the second time this month, the Hood County Commissioners Court has rejected a proposed county-wide moratorium on large-scale artificial intelligence data centers, citing fears of a legal battle with the state and leaving residents frustrated as even more industrial development heads to the county.
The proposed pause, voted down 3-2, would have given county officials time to study the cumulative environmental and financial impacts of data centers slated for development in the area.
“Hood County commissioners clearly feel they must choose between protecting their residents and avoiding a lawsuit,” said Rita Beving of Public Citizen. “It’s a sentiment that has been echoed in other counties where local officials attempt to take action, but feel handcuffed by the state. These local leaders are stepping into a regulatory void created by the Texas Legislature, with some members of the legislature issuing thinly veiled threats of litigation if local leaders take action when the legislature won’t. If state lawmakers are not willing to help local communities, they should at least get out of the way.”
Despite strong community support, the same moratorium was voted down on Feb. 10. Hours before that vote, State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who represents a Houston-based district almost 300 miles from Hood County, sent a letter to the attorney general’s office asking for an investigation and possible legal action against Hood County if it passed the moratorium.
“The right to clean water, air, and a peaceful community shouldn’t be outsourced to Big Tech companies or lawmakers who don’t represent this county,” said Joanne Carcamo, a Hood County resident and member of the grassroots group Protect the Paluxy Valley. “The commissioners who have twice voted against the moratorium are essentially saying they would rather see wells go dry and electricity bills go higher than risk a legal fight with the state. This is a failure that prioritizes corporate interests over the residents of Hood and Somervell counties, and it is receiving assistance from a state legislature that is, at best, indifferent to the growing concerns of Texans who view data centers as a threat to their rural quality of life.”
The AI boom continues to target Texas, with giants like Google and Meta committing billions to data center development. As residents of Hood County have noted, gigawatt-scale data center projects create a burden on local infrastructure that communities across Texas are not currently equipped to handle.