March 13, 2026      2:30 PM

As Texas lawmakers reportedly prepare to delve into data center debate, bipartisan and rural pushback to the industry grows

Rural, suburban, conservative, and liberal Texans have angrily protested and taken action against the rapidly growing business, but the centers can greatly add to a tax base and it’s not like the legislature has given municipalities endless opportunities to earn revenue

FORT WORTH – Residents in an unincorporated part of Hood County last year were so sick of a data center using natural resources – coupled with a constant buzzing and humming and an operator they called unresponsive – that they tried to start their own city in an effort to regulate it. County commissioners, while sympathetic, do not have the authority to declare a moratorium, which residents initially demanded. The effort to incorporate into Mitchell Bend failed. But it stands as one of the perhaps most desperate attempts to slow the construction of the rapidly booming industry.

As you first read in Quorum Report this week, a joint Texas House and Senate select committee on the issue is widely expected to be formed as soon as next month. The lawmakers chosen for that panel will hear from conservatives and liberals alike who have more and more concerns.

One new example: Data centers have expanded so fast in Texas that even former Republican Party of Texas Chair James Dickey is now advocating for more local control.

By James Russell

Copyright March 13, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved