In January, a zoning proposal for an AI data center in the City of Lubbock was scrapped.
Lubbock developer Terry Holman of Hugo Reed and Associates, speaking on behalf of the facility's developer, Texas Solarworks, LLC, told the Planning and Zoning Commission in the January meeting that the developer had already built data centers in other West Texas towns.
"The reason we're asking for a general industrial [zoning] is this project is a proposed data center," said Holman. "It's the cloud. It's processing of large amounts of internet data, which requires large amounts of power."
John Osborne, president and CEO of the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, spoke on the water needs of the proposed facility as bringing new infrastructure to the area.
Osborne said, "We can bring a water line over there to East Lubbock that will actually enable some additional water and civilities over in Far East Lubbock."
Members of the community from the NAACP and the North and East Lubbock Coalition spoke against the project bringing additional industrial development to the area. Eventually, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted against the project.
The developers went back to the drawing board, and many from the Lubbock community celebrated both the city's decision and the feeling that their voices were heard.
Now months later, the community and city know that this was not the first or the last developer that will come into Lubbock looking for a place to house a data center. The City continues to collect information about these projects and the best way to help the community, with or without a data center.
Lubbock's City Manager, Jarrett Atkinson, said he's focused on the zoning and utility details of these data centers, and many other aspects.
"A data center is a business like any other. Now, it's got its own unique characteristics and concerns, agreed," said Atkinson. "So I think it's important to understand, where do you want to put it? Is that location an appropriate place to put it? And by that, I mean, is it going to cause an outsized issue with its neighbors?"
Atkinson said the City's number one question they hear is usually about water. He added that Lubbock has worked with developers on these concerns and is making sure that they are asking these questions.
Atkinson explained, "What would the demand of your particular facility be? Not necessarily the day you open it – a lot of these are built in phases – so what does it look like in full development? If one of them locates here, and it's good and appropriate for all parties, we want it to be successful."
According to Atkinson, the community of Lubbock's water bill would not be directly affected if a data center is built.
The Houston Advanced Research Center wrote in a policy brief that data centers could use anywhere between 793 gallons per MWh to 45,701 gallons per MWh, so there are still a lot of uncertainties around the immediate impacts of this new technology, and a lot of the details depend on the individual facility.
Residents of Abernathy, a town about 17 miles north of Lubbock, found out in February that they will be getting a data center, expected to be finished in 2027. The developer, Aligned Data Centers, has communicated with citizens on water questions.
Aligned Data Centers explained in a statement about this data center, "The Caprock campus will utilize Aligned's innovative DeltaFlow~ liquid cooling technology and an advanced air-cooled heat rejection system paired with a closed-loop design." But that's a lot of technical jargon when the main concern is conserving water for livelihoods in the region's agricultural economy.
As the chips in these hyperscale AI facilities process data, they generate heat that must be dissipated to keep the machines running.
The closed-loop system takes a large amount of water at the beginning, and recycles it as the process continues, drastically improving the water efficiency, instead of continually taking on water to cool the systems like older designs.
This developer said it is working with Abernathy to protect the Ogallala Aquifer and the town's supply of resources.
The next time a developer brings their plans to Lubbock, the City wants to hear all the ways that both the developer and the City could benefit. Data centers have not been taken off the table, but Atkinson said the City wants to be involved in the planning.
Atkinson said, "I would encourage people that want to develop data center projects or to propose the development of a data center project, I think the more they work with the city staff up front before it gets to that point, I think the better."
One aspect that Atkinson said the City does not currently have a lot of information on is the energy component.
In 2024, Lubbock finalized the switch from a municipal energy provider, Lubbock Power & Light, to the commercial electricity market for its residents, after becoming fully integrated to the statewide grid managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT in 2024.
Consumer Reports explained that residential electricity prices across the country increased 7.1% in 2025. Inflation can cause this, but this percentage is double the inflation rate. The report explains that the AI Data Center rush is a "significant" factor.
Atkinson said the City keeps their ears open for information about what other towns and organizations have been hearing and what their courses of action have been.
If another developer comes in with new plans, Atkinson encouraged the community to bring their questions and concerns to the zoning meetings, like in January.
"I would congratulate the people that came out in January and tell them to do exactly the same thing," he said.
In January, the Lubbock community showed up to the zoning meetings and had their statements ready. The community is able to voice their concerns at every step of this process at these meetings, zoning and city council.
When bringing a development plan to the City of Lubbock, the developers must present it to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and then the plans move to the city council to be approved. If they are not recommended at the zoning meeting, they can still be passed by the city council through public hearings, where citizens have no time limit for sharing their opinions.
"Everybody can come. So I think that we've got some pretty good education amongst the public on how to do that, and encourage them to keep doing it. And not just for a data center project," explained Atkinson. "We have that same opportunity on any kind of zoning issue. But again, before any zone change ever got approved, it's done twice to two completely different public hearings."
City leaders continue to encourage new development, businesses, and job opportunities coming to Lubbock, but Atkinson and others also stress the importance of transparency, responsibility, and communication in that process.
Lubbock's Planning and Zoning Commission meets once a month on the third Thursday. Lubbock's City Council meets twice a month, on the second and fourth Tuesday. You can find agendas for both of these groups on the City of Lubbock Website.
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