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BROWNSVILLE — The City Commission got one step closer to temporarily halting potential data center development in the city on Wednesday. It unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance that would pause permitting of data centers within Brownsville’s boundaries.
The vote came after the third and final public hearing required by state law as part of the moratorium process. After a second reading and passage of the ordinance on Nov. 4, a 90-day moratorium would go into effect the following day and halt the “acceptance, processing, and approval of High Intensity Data Process Facilities” within the city limits and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Mayor John Cowen Jr. said the moratorium is a priority for commissioners, and Wednesday’s special meeting is part of their efforts to move the process along as quickly as possible.
During the public hearing, city officials also addressed questions about the moratorium process’ timeline, speculation on the use of disannexed land purchased by SpaceX and whether an agreement with the rocket company gave it any water rights. At times, city staff cut off speakers who made personal insults to commissioners or went off the topic of the moratorium.
“I think there’s a lot of fear on resource usage. We live in a sensitive area in terms of water,” Cowen told the Herald, noting that some data centers built in other regions of the country use large amounts of water. “So they’re worried that those types of data centers would be coming to Brownsville to put us in a worse situation, and I can tell you that that’s not gonna happen.”
While District 2 Commissioner Linda Macias noted that state law ultimately supersedes city regulation, she said commissioners are moving forward in the best interests of residents.
“I think that the commission is wanting to safeguard the community as much as possible,” Macias said. “Data centers are a hot topic and something that’s new in the political climate, and we’re working towards solutions.”
Several residents on Wednesday and during previous public hearings said they were concerned that SpaceX, which purchased the 444 acres of disannexed land from a private owner, requested the disannexation to build a data center and avoid the moratorium.
Data centers can apply for permits any time prior to the moratorium going into effect, he said, but city staff has reported that no permits for data centers have been requested or issued since a data center application was withdrawn in July.
Gov. Greg Abbott also issued a moratorium on Aug. 3 that blocked data centers from connecting to the state power grid. The 444 acre disannexation was approved Aug. 29.
“What we are relying on is that the governor currently has a statewide moratorium, if you will, while they process their audit and they come up with their findings,” City Attorney Will Treviño said. “As of today, we haven’t received any data center applications based on what the state is doing, as well.”
If the state-wide moratorium were to be lifted, Treviño said, the city would require any data center applying for a permit to provide documentation that shows there will be no impact to air quality or noise pollution. Any data center grandfathered into the city before the moratorium takes effect would also have to provide its own sources of water and power.
Due to state law, the city must wait at least 28 days between the first and second reading of the moratorium ordinance. The city can later pass a one-time, 90-day extension. The Environmental and Conservation Task Force will use the moratorium to study data centers’ potential impact on the city and recommend policies.
At-Large “A” Commissioner Tino Villarreal asked Treviño to clarify for the audience whether the city would be required to issue a data center permit for any property zoned as light industrial or heavy industrial. Treviño said yes, it would.
In response to a resident’s public comment, Villarreal asked what the 444 acres of disannexed land purchased by SpaceX was zoned as. Treviño said it was heavy industrial.
“To add to that, we don’t know what that property is going to be developed as,” Treviño said. “To be very clear, if that property was going to be a data center, they did not have to request deannexation or removal from the ETJ.”
That’s because SpaceX could have applied for a permit to clear the land, Treviño said, and that would have grandfathered them in so that “they wouldn’t be subject to the moratorium.”
“It is unfortunate that another entity could come while we are investigating and studying the issue,” he said, “but we are relying on the governor’s pause statewide during this time.”
Villarreal asked Treviño to clarify whether the city guaranteed water to SpaceX as part of an agreement that the company would provide the city up to $220 million for water infrastructure projects.
“No, they get no additional allocation,” Treviño said. “I will say that the first version (of the agreement), they were asking for a reservation of water, and by state law we can’t do that. And so we simply had to explain that.”
District 4 Commissioner Pedro Cardenas noted that the city charter and the Brownsville Public Utilities Board charter state that water cannot be restricted to residents until industrial customers have undergone restrictions. Cowen, who is on the BPUB board, said he believes that’s true of the BPUB charter.
In response to a public comment, Cardenas also noted that 70% of the city’s water comes from the Rio Grande while 30% comes from brackish desalinated water. Cowen added that two major infrastructure projects that are in the works will increase water production capacity in the city by 21 million gallons of water per day to the city.
“If the Rio Grande does have issues, we will be able to meet 100% of our needs going forward for a long time,” Cowen said.
SpaceX has made the initial $40 million deposit into an escrow account, as outlined by the funding agreement.
Updates on the projects and funding deposits can be found at www.brownsvilletxwatersecurity.com.