Granbury Data Center Project Met with Opposition from Local Community

If it seems like AI data centers are popping up everywhere, it’s not your imagination. There are around 5,400 data center facilities around the country, and planned constructions will triple that number by 2030.

Data center projects, like the one in Granbury, often require additional electrical infrastructure to be built

On one hand, these are large infrastructure projects that require hundreds or thousands of workers to complete, stimulating the local economy during construction. On the other hand, there are very real concerns over their impacts on local power grids, water supply, noise pollution, and more once the facilities open. As a result, data centers construction has become a hot topic in recent years, sparking protests in several communities slated to have one built in their backyard.

Data center companies have looked toward rural communities for their projects due to the availability of cheap land and the ability to secure tax incentives from towns that badly need the jobs promised in these projects.

It is worth noting that a recent executive order made it possible new data centers could be exempt from environmental quality reviews if less than 50% of the funds came from Federal funding.

Unfortunately for many communities, local residents are often left in the dark about these projects until the ground has already been broken. Kirk Offel, the CEO of Overwatch Mission Critical and the Host of the Data Center Revolution podcast, is sympathetic to these concerns. In a recent congressional hearing, he testified that “as an industry, we do not communicate early enough or often enough about our plans.”

Nowhere is that more obvious than in the town of Granbury, Texas, where land was recently annexed by the city for a data center to be built.

Counties in Texas have limited power to regulate industrial projects, especially in unincorporated areas. Cities, however, can impose zoning rules once land is brought within their boundaries. This distinction became critical when Granbury moved to annex 2100 acres of property tied to the proposed data center site in the vicinity of a development of homes on the north side of the city. City officials said annexation would give them regulatory control over how the land is used. Residents from both inside and outside the city limits showed up to voice their opposition to the annexation.

One such resident, Jacob Herbold, spoke with American Liberty Media about his disapproval of the way that the city has been handling this project. Jacob and his family have lived in the community adjacent to the proposed data center since 2022, moving from elsewhere in the city because “it’s always kind of been a dream to have a little bit of land and have a small homestead-type place,” adding that his family has several chickens, ducks, and goats on their property.

The proposed data center would be mere steps away from where his children and their animals play. Herbold is concerned that his family won’t get to experience the lifestyle and the scenery that they purchased their land to enjoy.

“That 2,100 acres of land is some of the most beautiful land in Hood County,” Herbold said, “we’ve seen roadrunners, wild turkeys, bobcats, and right now you can see the stars.”

All of that is now in jeopardy, and Herbold is upset that the project has been kept secret for so long. Since learning about the data center, he’s been vocal about his concerns with having a data center be built so close to his home.

“The biggest concerns are our well water, air pollution, and noise pollution,” Herbold said, “the known and unknown effects of the sound and vibrations.” He added that he has a child with special needs, and that his child has challenges with noises that may be exacerbated by having loud generators and cooling systems so close to their home.

As his neighborhood is just outside of Granbury’s city limits, Herbold did not have a voice in the annexation of the adjacent property. Still, he attended the city council meeting where the matter was being discussed, and told ALM that 23 out of the 24 speakers testified against the city annexing that land for a data center to be built. The city council denied rumors that there was an agreement in place to have a data center built, insisting that they were simply voting to annex land into the city regardless of its future use.

This didn’t sit well with residents of Granbury and the surrounding community, who came out in droves to voice their opposition. There wasn’t enough room for everyone, so residents were standing in the hallways and the foyer for a chance to speak to the city council.

“I talked to 40 or 50 people outside the meeting,” Herbold recalled, “every single person I talked to was there against the data center.”

In spite of the opposition, the city council voted unanimously to annex the land. They presented no concrete plans for what comes next, but did confirm after the vote that a data center would likely be built there.

Now, Jacob Herbold is concerned that the opaqueness of the project could be a sign of things to come. “If this is going to be a good neighbor, why the secrecy?”

He echoed the concerns of his neighbors when he told us that “we’re for private property, but when what you do starts to harm your neighbor, now you’re affecting their private property.”

It is entirely possible to be pro-business and also support the quiet enjoyment of one’s home. Our system of property rights is based on this principle.

“I would just like there to be some transparency and honesty from our representatives at the county and city level,” Herbold insisted, adding that he would be okay with a data center near his home if he was sure that “they can be good neighbors and if this one is not going to create water problems and if it’s not going to pollute.”

These concerns are important to address when building something as intrusive as a data center can be. Even industry professionals are starting to acknowledge these facts. Speaking before Congress, Kirk Offel addressed the potential impacts that data center developments can have on local communities.

“Energy, water, environmental impact, job creation, all valid concerns,” Offel acknowledged, “they deserve our attention.”

At the same time, he warned rural communities not to dismiss the economic benefits of having a data center in their backyards, insisting that the downsides of data center operations could be overcome with future innovations in the industry.

“Progress doesn’t happen because we avoid the challenge,” he stated, “it happens because we take it head-on.”

Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Data Centers has been developing data center projects for years. He’s seen many communities change their minds on these projects when presented with the plans for resource usage and risk mitigation. “We come with a multi-generational commitment to our communities,” he said in his recent testimony to Congress on the topic.

His company spends a great deal of time working with local governments to get projects approved, and often encounters protest from local residents. He says that his approach is to engage with the folks who are opposed to the development of a data center in their backyard.

“The key is education,” he emphasized, “the key is doing the right thing for that community.”

Crosby touted a recent project that brought a large data center to Red Oak, and highlighted local support for the project. Construction is expected to support 1200 either directly or indirectly, and 30 full-time positions are projected to be available after the data center opens. This project will also include an electrical substation nearby to power the data center.

“We go to places where they welcome the investment,” Crosby said, “where they welcome the transformation of their communities.”

He believes that communities should be welcoming to data center projects, and he insists that projects like his are the way of the future. “Data centers are the 21st Century equivalent of the railroads coming.”

When asked about issues of environmental impact and noise pollution, he told members of Congress that “the railroad was probably pretty loud back in the 1800s, and the communities that passed on that, it didn’t work out so well for them.”

This brings up an interesting question. If data centers are such an economic boom to the community, why are many pushed through in secrecy, and why don’t the developers of these projects want to live next to one?

Even when environmental impacts are mitigated, the property values adjacent to a data center project are nearly certain to fall in comparison to the value of other properties in the community. The residents of these areas routinely feel the negative effects that the rest of the county simply won’t experience.

Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Director for the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, agrees that “communities that are adjacent to data centers are really not getting the best of AI.”

Dr. Turner Lee was also invited to testify in front of Congress on this topic, emphasizing “data centers have gotten increasing visibility as economic drivers, but this will only be the case if they’re built in ways that are additive to the community and bring limited harm to residents and businesses.”

Like Offel and Crosby, she emphasized the importance of having community support on these projects. She believes that communities are often left in the dark until the project has already began, which is unfair to the families that have built their lives in a community that will be disrupted by construction and operations of a data center.

“Communities should be involved with the onset of data center development and have transparency to assess the impacts,” Dr. Turner Lee insisted. Her testimony indicates her belief that there is no other way to ensure that the rights of all parties are being protected and respected.

Above all, communities should have all the information and local governments ought to “allow communities the opportunity to say ‘no’ when they want to say no.”

Having local support is great for the developer, especially if local elected officials are on board to help shepherd the project through any red tape. However, if the local residents are opposed to the project, or kept in the dark about it, local officials can expect backlash at the ballot box. In November 2024, four members of the Warrenton, Virginia city council lost their reelection bids amidst public outcry against an Amazon data center in the community. Those four council members voted in favor of the data center construction, and were quickly voted out of office. The three council members that voted against the data center won their respective elections.

A recall effort is already underway for the entire City Council of Granbury after their vote to annex the property for a data center. Even if that effort fails, each member of the city council will likely draw a challenger with backing from some very motivated residents.

In the meantime, residents like Jacob Herbold and his family are fighting to keep their families safe and their property enjoyable, all while the data center project seems to be wrapped in secrecy.

Conveying the sentiment of the community, Herbold told ALM that “we’re trying to trust God through it, but people are genuinely scared.”

Leaving off, Herbold encouraged the community with the words of Psalm 37:3-7, which reads:

“Trust in the Lord and do good;

    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

    trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

    your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord

    and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

    when they carry out their wicked schemes.”