Residents in Temple, Texas, are preparing for another fight over data centers after developer Rowan Digital Infrastructure moved forward with plans for a sixth and final facility in the city, KXXV reported.
What's happening?
According to KXXV, Rowan is planning to build a facility called The Lasso Building on about 300 acres beside its Project Temple campus. If approved, it would be the third and last structure in that development and the sixth data center in Rowan's Temple footprint overall.
Temple's Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to review the application in August, and the city council will do the same in September.
KXXV reported that Project Temple itself was approved in the fall of 2025 as a three-building campus, but landfill plans later delayed the third structure for nearly a year. If the proposal passes the normal approval process, construction could begin in early 2027.
According to KXXV, Project Temple represents about $1.4 billion in private investment and has created more than 500 construction jobs in 2026. The Lasso Building would add at least another $700 million.
Why is this concerning?
Residents are watching city leaders to see if they'll favor billion-dollar industrial growth over their concerns about local control and strain on community resources.
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Elena Voytko, a member of local opposition group Temple Stands Together, said residents have been trying to warn others about how quickly the expansion is happening.
"It's coming, we've got to stop it. Records show that the city council and mayor vote yes across the board for data centers and big establishments, and they do not hear the people's voice," Voytko said.
KXXV reported that Rowan has said the Lasso Building and its other Temple facilities would use a fully closed-loop cooling system, meaning operations would not need a constant water supply beyond normal employee use.
Opponents say that still leaves the larger question of how much heavy development one community should be expected to absorb.
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What's being done?
Because the project is on a different parcel, Temple officials will process it through the city's usual approval system, KXXV reported.
Temple Stands Together is still organizing and is trying to change city charter recall rules. At the state level, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced audits and a moratorium related to data centers, but opponents in Temple say review alone does not go far enough.
"We need a special session. We need a freeze and moratorium on all the data center projects, and we need to get rules in place and regulations in place that protect humanity, the people, our future, our resources," Voytko said.
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