As of August 15, 2026, this tracker documents 17 local government actions on data centers in Texas, across 17 jurisdictions in 15 counties: 12 zoning exclusions and 5 moratoria. By status: 7 pending, 6 enacted, 3 in force, and 1 expired.
At the state level, the state has a ratepayer-protection law (enacted, June 20, 2025) and El Paso Electric territory has a large-load tariff (enacted, July 31, 2025).
Data centers in Texas used about 33.5 TWh of electricity in 2024; EPRI, Powering Intelligence 2026 (state-level dashboard) projects 93.5 TWh in its 2030, EPRI medium scenario.
Statewide actions in Texas
- Texas: ratepayer-protection law, enacted, June 20, 2025SB 6: 75 MW+ ERCOT loads accept mandatory emergency curtailment with 24-hour notice, pay interconnection study fees, and disclose behind-the-meter generation. Instrument: SB 6. Source: McGuireWoods client alert.
- El Paso Electric territory: large-load tariff, enacted, July 31, 2025Economic-development rate riders (Schedules 33A/33B) approved by settlement for a 100 MW+ data center, with a floor at the utility's incremental cost. A negotiated economic-development rate rather than a restrictive large-load tariff, noted for honesty. A follow-on update (Docket 59948) was pending as of mid-2026. Docket PUCT Docket 56903. Source: PUCT Docket 56903 Final Order.
Local actions in Texas
| Jurisdiction | County | Action | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin County | Austin County | Moratorium | pending | July 27, 2026 |
| Bell County | Bell County | Moratorium | enacted | July 2, 2026 |
| Hood County | Hood County | Zoning exclusion | enacted | June 17, 2026 |
| Weatherford | Parker County | Zoning exclusion | pending | June 9, 2026 |
| City of Fort Worth | Tarrant County | Zoning exclusion | pending | June 2, 2026 |
| Hill County | Hill County | Moratorium | expired | May 12, 2026 |
| Hill County Commissioners Court | Hill County | Moratorium | enacted | May 12, 2026 |
| Red Oak | Ellis County | Zoning exclusion | enacted | May 11, 2026 |
| Harlingen | Cameron County | Moratorium | in force | May 2026 |
| San Angelo | Tom Green County | Zoning exclusion | pending | April 20, 2026 |
| Forney | Kaufman County | Zoning exclusion | pending | March 17, 2026 |
| San Antonio | Bexar County | Zoning exclusion | pending | March 5, 2026 |
| Milam County | Milam County | Zoning exclusion | enacted | January 9, 2026 |
| Lee County | Lee County | Zoning exclusion | in force | January 1, 2026 |
| Lufkin | Angelina County | Zoning exclusion | in force | November 1, 2025 |
| Bryan | Brazos County | Zoning exclusion | enacted | September 16, 2025 |
| Fort Worth | Tarrant County | Zoning exclusion | pending | January 1, 2025 |
Blocked or delayed projects in Texas
| Project | Jurisdiction | Developer | Outcome | Decision | Claimed capex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Marcos data center rezoning | San Marcos (Hays County), TX | Highlander SM One LLC | died | February 18, 2026 | $1.5B |
- San Marcos data center rezoning: Council denied Highlander SM One's ~200-acre rezoning 5-2 near 3 a.m. on February 18, 2026 after roughly nine hours of testimony, the site's second failed application since August 2025, then voted 4-3 on June 16, 2026 to remove data centers from every zoning district, making San Marcos the first Texas city with a citywide ban. The $1.5B figure is the project's reported potential valuation; no relocation has been documented, though a state senator has threatened a legal challenge to the ban itself.
What one campus pays a local government
The parent piece's calculator puts a single large campus at $2M to $90M a year in local revenue, depending on the tax regime and abatements. The reference campus (Project Blue scale: $3.6B of capital, 286 MW) pays about $157M to local governments over 10 years. Permanent jobs run around 50 per facility.
| Tax regime | Reference case | Annual local revenue, low | Annual local revenue, high |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressive abatement | Morrow County OR (enterprise zone) | $2M | $3M |
| Partial abatement | Georgia audit representative campus / El Paso Meta | $27.8M | $56M |
| Unabated equipment tax | Virginia-style rates (Loudoun is the ceiling) | $50M | $90M |
Run your own numbers in the calculator on the parent piece. Jurisdictions in Texas that say no give up this revenue, not the jobs.