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An unidentified company wants to build a data center and cold storage facility at a Brownsville building previously used to hold undocumented children, according to a published notice by the city.
The company is requesting a specific use permit for the empty building on Padre Island Highway — which was first a Walmart and later the now-defunct Southwest Key-Casa Padre facility.
When asked whether he could share the name of the company seeking the permit, City Manager Alan Guard said: “I don’t know it.”
Brownsville Mayor John Cowen Jr. replied similarly.
“I know there are a lot of questions and concerns, I share them as well,” Cowen said.
The Brownsville Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hold a regular meeting, where they would discuss the request on Thursday, Aug. 6, according to the notice.
“My understanding it will be moved to the September P&Z (Planning and Zoning) meeting for additional time for research,” he said. The meeting would be on Sept. 3.
Cowen also shared that the city commission will hear a general presentation about data centers on Aug. 4.
The commission will look into putting regulations in place to protect water resources and not put utility costs at risk, he explained.
When asked if the city would consider a moratorium to temporarily suspend data center activity, Cowen said yes, but noted that it’s important to learn more.
Outside of Harlingen’s city limits, a prposed multi-billion dollar 1,800-acre data center project has wrought local controversy. Eneus Energy would take 2 gigawatts of total power capacity, or 2,000 megawatts, according to the project website.
Another company, Soluna Computing, has plans to build four smaller data centers in Cameron and Willacy counties. The company builds data centers in areas that also have wind, solar or hydro plants to use excess energy for its computational work, according to the company website.
In Cameron County, Soluna Computing is planning its 187-megawatt Project Rosa and 100-megawatt project Ellen, according to the company website.
The company’s projects in Willacy County are its 166-megawatt Project Kati and 120-megawatt Project Hedy.
“Every data center project is different,” Cowen said, adding that Brownsville will look at how other cities have handled proposed projects and how the city should protect itself going forward.