San Antonio residents sound alarm as data center seeks permit for 32 diesel generators

Residents on San Antonio's West Side are raising fresh concerns about the hidden costs of the AI boom after a local data center sought approval to add 32 diesel generators.

What might otherwise be a technical permitting issue has become a broader neighborhood debate over air quality, electricity demand, and water use.

What's happening?

The immediate flashpoint is a Vantage Data Centers site in Westover Hills, where the company is seeking a Federal Operating Permit connected to dozens of diesel generators.

The dispute is unfolding against a much bigger backdrop. Texas has hundreds of planned or existing data centers, including 31 currently operating across the state.

State environmental regulators at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality took public comment on that permit request during a May hearing, KSAT reported.

District 6 council member Ric Galvan said the project appears to fit a larger "hyperscaler" model associated with AI-focused computing.

"They're looking for 32 on-site diesel generators, which would impact our air quality significantly," Galvan said.

Residents are not entirely in agreement.

One commenter told KSAT, "The one in Westover Hills is down the street from me. It's huge, but I don't hear or see it. Nothing odd. It's fine."

But a KSAT viewer named Meg said, "I know we have several data centers over here. I disagree with them. I don't hear anything different, but worry heavily on their energy and water consumption."

Why does it matter?

Data centers store hospital records, financial data, cloud services, and AI workloads behind closed doors, but their physical footprint can affect nearby communities through energy demand, water use, traffic, noise, and diesel backup systems that may worsen local pollution.

The area is already grappling with air-quality concerns. Even if the generators are meant primarily for backup use, expanded permitting could affect the air residents breathe and shape future development in a region that could attract more large-scale computing facilities.

AI is also closely tied to the power grid, as training and operating advanced models requires enormous amounts of electricity, often around the clock.

At the same time, the technology can help utilities forecast demand, balance renewable energy sources, and improve grid efficiency. The challenge is that the same tools promising smarter energy systems can also increase water consumption, raise power costs, introduce security and misuse risks, and push companies toward polluting backup infrastructure if clean energy capacity and transmission do not keep pace.

KSAT also cited Galvan as saying San Antonio's data centers account for under 0.3% of the city's water use, a figure that may ease some concerns even as other residents remain skeptical about the cumulative impact.

What's being done?

Vantage cannot operate the proposed diesel generators unless TCEQ grants the Federal Operating Permit, a ruling that will determine whether the project advances as planned.

Local officials are also working to explain where their authority begins and ends. Atascosa County, though it has no current data center proposals, recently held a public meeting to explain what role it would play if developers emerge.

Galvan pointed to one possible way to reduce strain on the electric system: clustering facilities together rather than spreading them across a wider area.

"For CPS Energy, they try to make sure that we're not having too many all spread out because that requires more transmission connecting to them," he said.

Galvan said, "District 6 has the highest concentration of data centers in Bexar County," noting that "a lot of residents have reached out to our office about it, as well."

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