Milam County, Texas, adopted a data-center zoning exclusion on January 9, 2026. Its status in this snapshot is enacted.
The record reads: "Milam County (TX) has become a flashpoint for data center buildout as SB Energy (SoftBank) and partners advance the Stargate / Milam County campus near Sharp (Rockdale / Thorndale area), a multi-building site associated with OpenAI and… (datacentertracker.org)."
Details
| Action | Class | Status | Date | MW threshold | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoning exclusion | restriction | enacted | January 9, 2026 | county-wide | datacentertracker.org |
Jurisdiction type: county. County: Milam County. Dataset: datacentertracker. Snapshot August 15, 2026; documented actions, not a census.
Texas context
Texas has 17 documented local actions across 17 jurisdictions in this snapshot. 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).
A town that says no to a data center gives up local tax revenue, not jobs: one large campus pays $2M to $90M a year depending on the tax regime, against roughly 50 permanent jobs. The parent piece prices it and lists the conditions that beat a ban.