WalletShock / Texas

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Texas counties: what things cost, who decided, who paid.

Every Texas county page starts with the WalletShock area report: local prices, electricity and gasoline, nearby data centers, school spending and federal lobbying. The Texas layers add what the state and the county have on record: the open question before the Attorney General, what each commissioners court has done about data centers, campaign money and lobby registrations, tax abatements and the state exemption, the grid and your bill, and water. Each figure names its source and the area it describes.

Choose your county

What the Texas layers add

The unanswered question
The request before the Attorney General on whether a county may pause industrial development, and how many days it has waited.
Local actions
What each commissioners court has voted, adopted, rescinded or been sued over, dated and sourced.
The money line
Campaign gifts and lobby registrations on record with the Texas Ethics Commission and the FEC, listed with links to the filings.
The tax break ledger
Abatements and the state data center exemption, beside the county's own adopted tax rate over five years.
The grid and your bill
Retail electricity offers by delivery company, the state average by month, and what ERCOT has on its books.
The water line
Disclosed water figures for proposed facilities beside the county's own water use and its groundwater district.

Each layer is added to every county page as it is finished. Your own figures, and a letter to your commissioners court, come in later steps. WalletShock shows money and decisions alongside prices. It does not assert that one explains the other. See the methodology.

What counties and cities have done

19 actions in 15 Texas counties and cities, from the reporting named on each line. A list of what the sources describe, not a count of every local vote in the state.

  • Local action (county or city)
  1. not dated in the source; reported August 19, 2026
    Milam County. Milam County Commissioners Court, resolution adopted. Milam County adopted a resolution calling for stricter statewide standards on data center developments, and included solar plants in it. Source, Detail.
  2. reported July 20, 2026; El Paso Matters says the council voted on Monday
    City of El Paso, El Paso County. El Paso City Council, regulations adopted. El Paso City Council unanimously approved a data center policy framework requiring at least 300 feet between data centers and residential neighborhoods or ecological sites, noise mitigation, and a special permit approved by a council vote, with no more tax breaks or subsidies. Source, Detail.
  3. July 2026
    Austin County. Austin County Commissioners Court, moratorium adopted. Austin County passed an ordinance adopting a countywide moratorium on new artificial intelligence data center and battery energy storage system developments, a pause to evaluate their impact rather than a permanent ban. Source, Detail.
  4. July 2026
    City of Mesquite, Dallas County. City of Mesquite, regulations adopted. Mesquite established a dedicated regulatory framework for both data centers and battery energy storage developments. Source, Detail.
  5. reported June 9, 2026; KERA says the vote was on Tuesday
    Hood County. Hood County Commissioners Court, project approved. Hood County commissioners voted 3-1 to approve the Comanche Circle data center concept plan without conditions after the developer threatened to sue, with Commissioner Nannette Samuelson dissenting. Source, Detail.
  6. reported June 5, 2026; the Tribune says the vote was on Thursday
    Hill County. Hill County Commissioners Court, moratorium rescinded. Hill County commissioners voted unanimously to end the moratorium and adopt a checklist of requirements for data center developers, two weeks after adopting the pause and one week after the lawsuit. Source, Detail.
  7. reported June 4, 2026; the Reporter-News says the vote was on Tuesday
    Tom Green County. Tom Green County Commissioners Court, moratorium withdrawn. Tom Green County dropped its plans for a data center moratorium after the Hill County lawsuit; Commissioner Shawn Nanny withdrew the moratorium he had proposed for a Beacon Data Centers project near San Angelo, citing the $100 million suit. Source, Detail.
  8. June 2026
    City of Lewisville, Denton County. City of Lewisville, regulations adopted. Lewisville passed an ordinance requiring a special use permit for all future data center developments, with two public hearings required for approval. Source.
  9. May 27, 2026
    Hill County. RCM Hill, LLC (developer) against Hill County, lawsuit filed. RCM Hill, LLC sued Hill County in federal court in Austin on May 27, 2026, seeking $100 million in damages and arguing the county exceeded its lawful powers in passing the moratorium, citing contracts to buy more than 800 acres for more than $80 million of development. Source.
  10. May 12, 2026
    Hill County. Hill County Commissioners Court, moratorium adopted. Hill County commissioners voted 3-2 for a moratorium of up to one year on new data center, power generation and large battery storage projects in unincorporated areas of the county, which appears to be the first such county action in Texas. Source, Detail.
  11. May 2026
    Somervell County. Somervell County Commissioners Court, resolution adopted. Somervell County commissioners unanimously approved a resolution opposing new data centers until the state offers more guidance, and a letter calling on lawmakers to increase regulation. Source, Detail.
  12. April 2026
    City of Forney, Kaufman County. City of Forney, regulations adopted. Forney passed an ordinance limiting data center developments to the city's light industrial zoning districts with a conditional use permit and a 1,000-foot buffer from any residential property. Source.
  13. February 23, 2026
    Hood County. Hood County Attorney, opinion requested. Hood County Attorney Matthew A. Mills asked the Attorney General for a formal written opinion on whether Hood County may declare a moratorium on industrial development, docket RQ-0633-KP. Source.
  14. not dated in the source; reported February 13, 2026
    City of College Station, Brazos County. City of College Station, land sale rejected. College Station city leaders rejected the sale of city property to a data center developer after residents raised concerns over water and electricity use. Source.
  15. not dated in the source; reported February 13, 2026
    City of Harlingen, Cameron County. Harlingen city-owned utility, agreement signed. Harlingen's city-owned utility entered an agreement to provide a data center company with more than 4.6 million gallons a day of reclaimed wastewater, which the company says lets it avoid the potable supply. Source.
  16. not dated in the source; reported February 13, 2026
    City of Lacy Lakeview, McLennan County. City of Lacy Lakeview, project partnership. Lacy Lakeview is partnering with the developer Infrakey on a proposed $10 billion data center on a 520-acre site, which company officials say would generate $50 million a year in tax revenue for the city. Source.
  17. February 11, 2026
    Van Zandt County. Van Zandt County Commissioners Court, moratorium adopted. Van Zandt County enacted a moratorium of its own on February 11, 2026, according to the Hood County Attorney's request letter to the Attorney General. Source.
  18. February 10, 2026
    Hood County. Hood County Commissioners Court, moratorium rejected. Hood County commissioners voted 3-2 against a proposed six-month pause on new industrial development including data centers, after the county attorney revealed a letter from state Sen. Paul Bettencourt to the Attorney General saying counties have no authority to impose moratoriums. Source.
  19. November 2024
    Bosque County. Bosque County Commissioners Court, tax abatement approved. Bosque County approved a tax abatement with data center developer CyrusOne for a 400 megawatt facility along the Brazos River, with conditions to repair roads damaged during construction, a buy-local provision, and employment and economic impact goals. Source.

All 254 counties

Texas counties, WalletShock