Part Four: Two Texas Cities that Are Reexamining Data Center Deals

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There’s a conversation my zoning director and I often have, that these entities are going to be here one way or another… We have to find a way to make them work for our communities the same way we did with electricity, with the railroads, with any new technology coming around that’s changing our society

Ric Galvan, District 6 Councilmember, City of San Antonio

I’m not saying that these massive tech companies are particularly targeting news deserts. I think that becomes kind of a side benefit for them

Bob Moore, founder and CEO of El Paso

As artificial intelligence has grown globally, so has the construction of immense, resource-intensive data centers. The arrival of these projects– both the facilities and the powerful tech companies behind them– in communities throughout the U.S. has created some controversy. Ten Across cities like Tucson, El Paso and San Antonio have made headlines recently for community resistance to development deals that might strain local resources in exchange for uncertain or marginal economic benefits.

In the fourth and final installment in this series on the nexus of Texas water, energy, and growth, host Duke Reiter looks at what these stories can tell us about similar scenarios playing out in the Ten Across region and in the nation at large. He is joined by San Antonio District 6 Councilmember Ric Galvan and Robert Moore, founder of the nonprofit newsroom El Paso Matters, to discuss:

• The importance of preventing “develop-by-right” policies and preferential treatment toward private industry from permitting data center developments at significant expense to local communities
• The value of intentional partnership between local utilities and governments when evaluating resource-intensive land use proposals
• What the AI boom may mean—for better and for worse—for the future of local economic development and job growth

Stay until the end of the episode for takeaways from the rest of the series and for the Interstate 10 corridor as a whole. Missed an episode? Get caught up on parts 1-3, linked below.

Relevant Articles and Resources

“San Antonio looks to create tailor-made model for data center growth” (Community Impact, March 2026)

“El Paso Electric filings detail power plant impact behind Meta’s $10 billion data center” (El Paso Matters, March 2026)

“’We can’t do this a lot’: El Paso Water CEO warns as questions grow over Meta data center’s water use” (El Paso Matters, December 2025)

“Podcast: We discuss Northeast El Paso data center, tax breaks for Meta, city’s economic future” (El Paso Matters, December 2025)

“Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue data center amid intense community pressure” (Arizona Luminaria, August 2025)

Local Data Center Development Guides Produced by Friends of Ten Across

“The Data Center Next Door” (USC Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication, April 2026)

“Turning the data center boom into long-term, local prosperity” (Brookings, February 2026)

Relevant Ten Across Conversations Podcasts

Texas Series Trailer

Part One: Can Texas Drought-Proof Its Economic Miracle?

Part Two: Does Texas Have the Water Support an AI Boom?

Part Three: Oil Wars, Nuclear, and AI—Can Texas Power America’s Future?

Credits

Host: Duke Reiter
Writer and producer: Taylor Griffith
Editor: Kate Carefoot
Research and support provided by: Rae Ulrich, Kelly Saunders, Maya Chari, and Sabine Butler

Guest Speakers