Taylor Weighs a 500-Megawatt Data Center as Texas’s Data Center Fight Hits the Ballot
Thursday, the Taylor City Council will vote on an annexation and development agreement with Big Watt Digital and PowerHouse Data Centers for a project once known as Project Mustang.
Now called the Taylor Technology Campus, it would be a 500-megawatt data center with its own on-site power generation. Developers say it could have a $4.8 billion regional economic impact and create nearly 20,000 jobs during a three-year construction phase.
A Project Built on Its Own Power
Big Watt’s vice president, John Stokes, has told residents the campus will not connect to the grid because it brings dedicated on-site power. Project officials also say the plan meets city water, noise and lighting codes, as well as the governor’s new data center requirements.
That pitch has not quieted opponents.
The city’s Planning Commission tabled the proposal for 90 days after residents packed City Hall. In July, residents submitted a petition with 1,400 signatures to put an anti-data-center measure on the November ballot, but the council ruled it ineligible.
Taylor’s Larger Debate
Taylor is no stranger to these fights.
In March, the council unanimously approved annexing land for KDC’s 360-megawatt “Project Comal” next to Samsung’s chip plant, over resident objections about traffic, health and the environment. Supporters, including the local chamber of commerce, framed the decision around economic growth rather than data centers themselves.
Meanwhile, the group Halt Taylor Data Centers wants a pause on new permits until the city creates a dedicated zoning category with rules on water use, noise and buffers near neighborhoods.
The Statewide Picture
The local tension mirrors a statewide reckoning.
In early August, Gov. Greg Abbott directed regulators to pause new data center grid connections while the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT audit planned projects, citing grid reliability. Roughly 90% of new power requests now come from data centers. That marks a sharp turn for a governor who had called Texas the “epicenter” of AI development.
An Election-Year Issue
With Election Day approaching, opposition to data centers has become a central campaign issue for candidates in both parties.
Abbott’s Democratic challenger, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, is calling for a full moratorium and a special legislative session.
Critics have also pointed to millions in campaign contributions Abbott has received from industry-linked donors, and some call his pause “political theater.” Abbott’s campaign says his goal is to lower costs for Texans and make data centers pay their own way.
There is also a loophole question.
Developers increasingly pair with energy companies to build power plants directly at their sites, which could sidestep a grid-connection pause. That is exactly the model Taylor’s newest project uses.
What to Watch
Thursday’s vote will test whether promises of jobs and tax revenue outweigh resident concerns, and whether “off-grid” projects can calm a skeptical public. Whatever the council decides, the issue will likely follow Texas voters into November and the next legislative session.
Sources:
- CBS Austin, “Taylor Planning Commission tables data center proposal for 90 days after pushback” — https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/taylor-planning-commission-tables-data-center-proposal-for-90-days-after-pushback
- Spectrum News, “Taylor approves land annexation for KDC data center” — https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2026/03/27/taylor-approves-land-annexation-for-kdc-data-center
- Data Center Dynamics, “360MW data center to be built outside Austin, Texas” — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/360mw-data-center-to-be-built-outside-austin-texas/
- FOX 7 Austin, “City of Taylor to discuss citizen-led ordinance on proposed data center” — https://www.fox7austin.com/news/city-taylor-discuss-citizen-led-ordinance-proposed-data-center.amp
- Reuters via KSL, “Texas governor orders pause on new data center approvals pending audit” — https://www.ksl.com/article/51605984/texas-governor-orders-pause-on-new-data-center-approvals-pending-audit
- San Antonio Current, “Critics blast Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s pause on data centers as ‘political theater'” — https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/critics-blast-texas-gov-greg-abbotts-pause-on-data-centers-as-political-theater/
- Bisnow, “Texas Governor’s Data Center Power Pause Gets Split Verdict From Developers” — https://www.bisnow.com/news/national/data-center-power/developer-reaction-texas-data-center-power-pause
- Daily Signal, “Texas Governor’s Race Could Hinge on Data Center Debate” — https://dailysignal.com/2026/09/02/texas-governor-race-data-centers
- E&E News, “Texas data center approval halt scrambles grid plans” — https://www.eenews.net/articles/texas-data-center-approval-halt-scrambles-grid-plans/
- Texas Tribune, coverage of Abbott’s data center audit — https://www.texastribune.org/?p=239924
Note: The $4.8 billion economic impact, 500-MW capacity and nearly 20,000 construction jobs are developer claims as provided in the original announcement.
Meanwhile, there is a proposal to add a 25-acre community park to a massive EdgeConneX data center project currently under construction in Bastrop County.
Austin police are investigating two separate homicides that occurred within a 24-hour span on opposite sides of the city.
The violence began early Tuesday morning in North Austin, where a CapMetro bus driver discovered a man suffering from severe bodily trauma at a transit stop near Norwood Park Boulevard.
Less than a day later, early this morning, officers were called to the Manchaca area in South Austin following reports of a second deadly incident.
Detectives have not indicated any connection between the two cases, and homicide investigators remain on the scene of both locations working to identify suspects and establish motives.
The two cases mark the 45th and 46th murders in Austin in 2026.
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Williamson County authorities have issued a statement concerning reports of suspected fentanyl overdoses in the area.
Austin ISD staff and volunteers knocked on doors in local neighborhoods Tuesday to reconnect with families who withdrew this school year. The outreach comes as the district intensifies efforts to stem falling enrollment—a concern that also drew state lawmakers’ focus during a Senate hearing the same day. (CBS Austin)
When a gunman shot two people and was on the run near multiple elementary schools and high schools in September 2025, the response became a chaotic back-and-forth between Austin ISD officials who struggled to make decisions on whether to close or delay the school day. Internal documents show AISD and the Austin Police Department failed to communicate with each other and with families in the nearby Zilker neighborhood. (KUT 90.5)
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ICE activity in South Austin early Tuesday, according to Reporte Austin.
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Wilber Rafael Garces Perez—the 28-year-old Venezuelan food delivery driver shot by an ICE agent in Austin on September 20—remains in federal custody while recovering from surgery.
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Following a rain-soaked, muddy opening weekend at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, critics have slammed the condition of Zilker Park as “unacceptable,” voicing sharp concerns over potential lasting damage.
In response, festival organizers announced Sunday night that they are restricting activity on the grounds to allow the site to rest and recover ahead of Weekend 2. They added that teams will collaborate daily with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department to plan comprehensive post-festival restoration efforts.
Austin Parks & Recreation:
“Zilker Park is the crown jewel of Austin. Austin Parks and Recreation is fully committed to protecting the park and the Great Lawn’s long-term health, including ensuring its restoration to prime condition following the Austin City Limits Music Festival. As always, C3 Presents is responsible for restoring the park to its previous condition, or better. City staff are actively monitoring the park during ACL Fest and understand the concerns about the environment caused this past weekend by heavy rainfall.”
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Williamson and Hays counties have lifted their burn bans but the one in Travis County remains in effect.
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A Texas death row inmate convicted in a fatal 2000 convenience store robbery could become the first person executed in the U.S. since a botched lethal injection in Tennessee raised national concern. Jamaal Howard, then 20, shot and killed 42-year-old clerk Vickie Swartout during a robbery in Silsbee, north of Beaumont. A Hardin County jury convicted Howard and sentenced him to death less than a year later.
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The Texas Longhorns’ need a strong performance from QB Arch Manning against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Shootout on Saturday. Will Manning and the Texas offense deliver in a crucial SEC matchup in Dallas?
Today we’re hopping into the Texas time machine and going back 83 years to 1943.
This film was originally made in 1943 by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and all the rights transferred to the Austin History Center in 2006. The film was preserved and digitized in 2008 and made possible by a Partnership Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Austin The Friendly City
