Hood County Residents Left Vulnerable as Commissioners Reject Data Center Moratorium
The moratorium had overwhelming community support
GRANBURY, Texas — Today, the Hood County Commissioners Court declined a proposed one-year moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers, a vote that will allow continued industrial expansion over residents’ concerns about water security, noise, and the substantial energy required to operate the facilities.
The proposed moratorium would have given county officials time to study the cumulative environmental impacts of large-scale facilities. Without this pause, Hood County and its residents remain vulnerable to unregulated growth in unincorporated areas, potentially leaving the Paluxy Valley watershed and local groundwater resources at significant risk.
“Hood County is facing the potential buildout of four data centers,” said Rita Beving of Public Citizen. “Failing to pass a moratorium will trigger the construction of several natural gas plants alongside these projects. The Hood County region may not have the water required to support these developments, and the county commissioners are putting vital resources at risk.
“Data centers, both large and small, are facing significant financial liability, and officials must reconsider the viability of these projects. Fermi America near Amarillo has already been hit with a class-action lawsuit for allegedly misleading investors. Another data center company, RELLIS, filed for bankruptcy in November, leaving the City of Bryan, Texas A&M University, bankers, and contractors holding the bag. Decisionmakers must proceed more cautiously with these data projects and thoroughly examine their financial liability.”
Today’s decision is particularly troubling given the community’s existing noise issues from cryptocurrency mining operations already in the area, which residents blame for numerous health problems. Residents have repeatedly voiced concerns that new, larger facilities will further disrupt quality of life and strain infrastructure.
“With a relentless influx of these massive projects, it is clear that Hood County is not prepared to manage these developments while protecting the best interests of its residents or the community at large,” said Brian Crawford, a member of the grassroots group Protect the Paluxy Valley. “Developers are taking advantage of this lack of preparedness across the nation and in Texas. A moratorium is critical to allow the county to position itself to legally and appropriately govern developments that will otherwise have profound and irreversible impacts on the area.”
The artificial intelligence boom has made Texas a prime target for data center expansion. Tech giants like Google, Meta, and Oracle are pouring billions into gigawatt-scale campuses. Google recently announced a $40 billion investment to build three new AI hubs across the state, while projects like Vantage’s $25 billion Frontier campus in Shackleford County are already under construction.