Three San Antonio City Council members are now asking the city to temporarily pause new data center construction, saying the rapid growth of those facilities could add to concerns about water use, electricity demand, and other impacts on nearby neighborhoods.
What's happening?
District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo, District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan, and District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez all signed a memo seeking a special City Council meeting on a potential data center moratorium by the end of August, per reporting from the San Antonio Current.
In their request, they want the city to consider a moratorium covering concept-plan applications, site-development-plan applications, and permits connected to new data center projects, according to the San Antonio Current. The proposed pause would also stop site permits for developments categorized as "office data processing and management."
The San Antonio push comes as the speed of data center growth in Texas has become a point of criticism for both Gov. Greg Abbott and his Democratic challenger, state Representative Gina Hinojosa. Abbott, a Republican, has already paused approval of new data centers and directed the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to review every center still waiting to connect to the state's power grid, according to the Current.
Hinojosa, meanwhile, had also called for Texas to stop approving new data center construction until lawmakers can take up the issue in a special legislative session, per the Current.
Developers and tech industry officials, on the other hand, argue that data centers support digital services people depend on, including digital banking and artificial intelligence tools.
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If the City Council decides to take up the request, a temporary moratorium could give officials time to study possible effects on land use, utilities, and nearby residents. At the state level, Abbott's freeze on new approvals and the grid audits he ordered indicate that the matter has moved beyond a purely local zoning dispute.
Why does it matter?
Critics say that those benefits come with significant tradeoffs. Because data centers use enormous amounts of electricity and water, opponents say communities end up carrying the financial burdens.
That is especially sensitive in Texas, where pressure on the state's stand-alone power grid has long been a source of concern.
People living near data centers have also raised complaints about possible neighborhood effects, including added noise, bright lighting, and air pollution.
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Hinojosa has presented the issue as part of a larger fight over who actually benefits from development in Texas.
"What is happening with data centers is an example of the fight of our time, and it is the fight to decide: Is this going to be a Texas that is by and for the people, or is this the billionaires' world, and we just live here," she told the Current.
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