Data Centers

On August 11, the City Council approved a resolution directing the City to establish an expert commission, the Fort Worth Data Center & Infrastructure Commission (DCIC), to study specific issues and provide a report and recommendations within the City’s regulatory authority to City Council by Nov. 3. 

Led by Mike Slattery, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies in the Louise Dilworth Davis College of Science & Engineering at Texas Christian University, the commission of up to 11 members will include individuals representing the economic development business sector, data center operations, environmental/natural resource management, a local electric provider, Tarrant Regional Water District, an environmental advocacy organization and five community members.  

The DCIC’s areas of study include: 

1. Electricity and Energy 
2. Water Use and Local Resources 
3. Land Use, Siting and Neighborhood Impacts 
4. Economic Development and Fiscal Impacts 

In addition to the Commission’s voting members, several academic partners have signed on to support DCIC research and synthesis throughout the process. These contributors will help conduct literature reviews, analyze data center impacts, and ensure the Commission’s recommendations are grounded in peer‑reviewed evidence.

• Dr. Seth Hall (Engineering, Texas Christian University)
• Dr. Zack Hawley (Economics, Texas Christian University)
• Dr. Mohammad Islam (Computer Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington)
• Dr. Gehendra Kharel (Environmental and Geological Sciences, Texas Christian University)
• Dr. Morgan Kiani (Engineering, Texas Christian University)
• Dr. Weiwei Liu (Economics, Texas Christian University)
• Dr. Tom Seng (Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, Texas Christian University)
• Dr. Bingyang Wei (Computer Science, Texas Christian University)
• Dr. Fengqi You (Engineering, Cornell University)
• Dr. Yang Zhou (Economics, University of North Texas)

Economic Development Incentives are considered on a case-by-case basis and projects must be fully compliant with adopted City ordinances, policies and plans.

A data center is a physical facility that houses IT infrastructure — including servers, storage devices, and networking equipment — used to store, process, and manage digital operations and data.

Any time you send an email, stream a video, use a cloud-based application, access medical records, or make a banking transaction, that request is processed by equipment inside a data center. 

The City of Fort Worth does not control every factor that influences data center development, however, the City does have a role in using local tools to protect the community. 

City of Fort Worth

The City of Fort Worth's authority is focused on four areas: zoning regulations, noise regulations, water utility requirements, and City economic development incentives.  

The City cannot replace state law or regulate areas assigned to state or federal agencies, but it can require local protections when a project comes into the city limits and receives City utility service.

State of Texas

The State of Texas holds authority over several key areas. On energy, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) govern grid access, interconnection, and reliability — meaning the City has no direct control over whether or how a data center connects to the power grid. Statewide water planning falls to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Air quality regulation is the domain of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). State tax exemptions and incentives are administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office.

A moratorium is a temporary pause on certain types of new development to allow a city time to study and prepare regulations to address specific development issues. 

Under the Texas Local Government Code, a moratorium requires specific certain requirements, including specific notice and public hearings, written findings to justify the moratorium, and the City must adopt development regulations at the end of the moratorium. Moratoriums have an initial duration of 90 days and may be extended for an additional 90 days provided certain process and findings are followed.   

Moratoriums also have limitations. It cannot be used to regulate issues outside the City’s authority or prohibit a lawful land use. It does not apply to vested projects, approved projects, or those with zoning applications already submitted, meaning projects in progress are not halted.

At the August 11 City Council Meeting, Council adopted a resolution that initiates the legal process to enact a moratorium on new data center development applications while the City completes its regulatory framework.

In accordance with the Council’s direction, the first of the two required public hearings to advance the moratorium process will be held not later than Nov. 10. The City would then need to complete the additional public notices, hearings and ordinance readings as outlined under state law before voting on adoption of the moratorium, tentatively set for Feb. 16, 2027. This action will require a supermajority of the Council to approve and begin the initial 90-day term of the moratorium.  

Should the moratorium be adopted, the City may not impose another moratorium on data center development for two years. 

Yes, there have been data centers operating in Fort Worth for more than two decades. The City currently has four data center developments spanning 10 individual buildings across Council Districts 5 (1 development) and 10 (3 developments), with a combined footprint of more than 3 million square feet. Individual facilities range in size from 209,000 square feet to a 1.5-million-square-foot campus, with an average building size of 275,000 square feet. The first data center in Fort Worth was built in 2000; the most recently completed construction in 2025.

There is also in progress development. Within city limits, one additional facility is currently under construction in Council District 7, and four more have been proposed across Council Districts 3, 6, 7, and 8. Two further data center projects have also been proposed in Fort Worth's extraterritorial jurisdiction. 

It is anticipated that the Texas State Legislature will consider legislation action related to data centers in the next Legislative Session. Several House and Senate Committees are currently studying data center-related interim charges, including impacts on the electric grid, water supply, infrastructure, economic development, and regulation.

During the 89th Texas Legislature (Regular Session), Senate Bill 6 was signed into law and became effective on June 20, 2025. Its purpose was to establish a regulatory framework to manage the rapid growth of consumers with high electricity demand, such as data centers. It sought to address the concerns around grid reliability, cost allocation, data transparency and credibility, and protecting residential customers during grid emergencies.

Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) is the sole and exclusive provider of raw water to the City of Fort Worth. That contract prioritizes supply for Fort Worth alongside Arlington, Mansfield, and the Trinity River Authority (TRA).

Looking further out, the State Water Plan forecasts that TRWD will need additional water supply over the next 50 years to serve both existing and proposed customers. The plan identifies actionable strategies and financing sources to meet it.

The $2.3 billion Integrated Pipeline project is a cornerstone of the region's long-term supply infrastructure. TRWD is also designing indirect reuse projects at Mary's Creek and Cedar Creek Reservoir, with construction anticipated to begin within the next five years. Additional supply strategies are incorporated into both the State Water Plan and TRWD's own Integrated Water Supply Plan.

The proposed requirement that all new data centers use closed loop cooling systems is consistent with long-range planning strategies.

Water use varies by each site's specific operational needs and design.

Estimates normalized to an example of 100 acres of land in Fort Worth:

• Data center utilizing a closed loop cooling system uses 300,000 - 1 million gallons of water per month on average. 
• Data center utilizing an evaporative cooling system uses 4 - 6 million gallons of water per month on average.

To put that water use in perspective, a single-family residential development on 100 acres of land in Fort Worth uses approximately 2 million gallons of water per month on average.

Air emissions and wastewater discharge are regulated primarily at the state and federal level through agencies such as Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Air

TCEQ oversees air quality requirements for data centers in Texas, and reviews air permit applications, regulates emissions standards, and enforces state air quality regulations. The City of Fort Worth responds to air quality complaints. City staff are trained to conduct air quality compliance inspections, to document site conditions, and to refer violations to TCEQ.

TCEQ Permitting

The TCEQ has permits for many different air quality emissions sources.  For data centers, the most common sources of air quality emissions are cooling towers, refrigeration systems, and emergency generators.  It is important to note that a data center’s permit requirements are site-specific based on a facility’s equipment and site design. Permits can vary among: 

• Permit by Rule (cooling towers, refrigerant systems, emergency generators/turbines, fuel storage tanks)

• Standard Permit (power engines & turbines)

• New Source Review (NSR) Permit (sources that don’t meet the criteria for the permitting above)

• Title V Permit (major sources; based on emissions)

Wastewater

The City of Fort Worth’s Water Utility requires wastewater studies to determine impacts, needed improvements, and permit requirements. The permitting process provides:

• protection of the sewer collection system, 
• protection of wastewater treatment operations, 
• protection of utility workers and public health, 
• prevention of unauthorized chemical discharges, 
• enforceable accountability measures, 
• ongoing monitoring and oversight, 
• and verification/certification requirements that can be investigated and validated by City staff.

Under the 2026 Installation Policy and Design Criteria for Water, Wastewater and Reclaimed Water Infrastructure(PDF, 21MB) , the City requires data centers obtain wastewater pretreatment permits as Non-Significant Industrial User (NSIU). The City issues the NSIU pretreatment permit, in accordance with TCEQ rules and the City’s local ordinance. Doing so allows the City to require and enforce:

• chemical disclosure and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) submission, 
• spill prevention and slug control plans, 
• secondary containment, 
• monitoring and inspection access, 
• discharge limitations, 
• annual certifications, 
• employee/operator training, 
• reporting requirements, 
• and emergency notification procedures. 

Closed-loop cooling means the cooling system is designed to reuse water within the system rather than continuously drawing large amounts of new water for cooling operations.

One of the proposed amendments would require that all new data centers use closed-loop cooling systems.

Data centers do require significant electricity, however, the electric grid is not controlled by the City of Fort Worth. Decisions about grid operations and electric infrastructure are made outside the City’s authority. 

Electric generation, transmission planning, and regional grid reliability are governed through the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Public Utility Commission of Texas, Oncor, and state law. 

During the 89th Texas Legislature (Regular Session), Senate Bill 6 was signed into law and became effective on June 20, 2025. Its purpose was to establish a regulatory framework to manage the rapid growth of consumers with high electricity demand, such as data centers. It sought to address the concerns around grid reliability, cost allocation, data transparency and credibility, and protecting residential customers during grid emergencies. 

Data centers generate an impactful amount of property tax revenue to fund City services and infrastructure. Over the last five years, data centers have generated more than $83 million in gross property tax revenue for the city.

In 2024, gross property tax revenue from data centers equaled the equivalent of what the city collects from roughly 8,300 average single-family homes. By 2030, based on known in progress development, that figure is projected to grow to the equivalent of more than 22,700 homes.