Data Center · Tom's Hardware
Texas county passes data center ban for rural areas for a year, move comes in wake of AI data centers moving to remote areas
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Commissioners of Hill County have voted 3-2 to issue a one-year moratorium on data center projects on rural land, with one member saying that the local government will take this time to study the effects of data centers on the community around it before developers can move forward.
Key facts
- The 300-acre plot of land where the project is envisioned to be constructed sits in a rural area about 60 miles south of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
- The decision was spurred by a proposed data center campus by Provident Data Centers, which is located outside of and north of Hillsboro, a city of about 8,000 people
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- AI hyperscalers are increasingly looking to unincorporated county land to reduce regulatory friction, allowing them to get their projects online much quicker
Summary
AI hyperscalers are increasingly looking to unincorporated county land to reduce regulatory friction, allowing them to get their projects online much quicker. The decision was spurred by a proposed data center campus by Provident Data Centers, which is located outside of and north of Hillsboro, a city of about 8,000 people. However, it seems that some county officials are catching on with this pattern and are actively moving to block or at least delay these power-hungry projects. One of the biggest issues that communities have around data centers is the increased power rates caused by the power-hungry infrastructure.