WalletShock area report

Val Verde County, TX

Prices for the West South Central division. No metro data is published for your county

Timescale

Texas counties / Val Verde CountyLeer en español

County
Val Verde County
Congressional district
TX-23
Metro area
Del Rio, TX
School district
Comstock Independent School District

Items BLS does not publish at the division level fall back to the division, region or nation and say so on their row.

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Prices

Prices for the West South Central division. No metro data is published for your county. Change over 5 years; each row names the exact area its number describes. Open the electricity and gasoline rows for the utility rate and the pump price.

While eggs rose 43.3 percent in the South region over 5 years, the food and agricultural industries held 215 lobbying contracts and filed 792 federal lobbying reports in 2025.

Federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings for 2025, the latest full year, counted by the issue codes each industry files under. Lobbying is federal and the same for every area. Shown beside the local price change; WalletShock does not assert that one caused the other.

  • Price and lobbying on the same years

    Eggs each September (South, dollars per dozen, grade A large), above; lobbying contracts under the industry's issue codes each year, below.

    • South, dollars per dozen, grade A large
    • Lobbying contracts per year, federal

    Filings are held from 2021; earlier years show no bar. The lighter bar is the current year, partial until its final reports arrive in late January. Two separate scales; the chart shows direction over the same years and does not measure one against the other.

    Top ten clients under FOO, AGR

    By filings carrying these issue codes in 2025. Filers under a code include organisations outside this industry.

    Egg producers: named clients

    Clients whose names match the catalog's list for this industry. Name matching is imperfect and each entry is flagged for human review.

Source: U.S. Senate Office of Public Records, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings via the LDA API. Latest observation 2025 filings, fetched 2026-11-01. A contract is one client and one lobbying registrant with a filing in the year; a company lobbying in-house counts as one. A filing count is the number of quarterly reports and registrations, not lobbyists or dollars. Amounts are the income registrants reported for the client plus expenses self-filers reported. Client names open the Senate filing search; the network icon opens the client's donor and PAC network on purchasingpolicy.org where a match exists

PACs for the industries behind this basket gave $39,500 to TX-23's House candidates and $110,000 to Texas's Senate candidates.

PAC gifts and stock trades tracked by the QPQ Tracker for the 183 lobbying clients listed above, matched to TX-23's House candidates and Texas's Senate candidates through FEC candidate committee records.

House, TX-23

$39,500 across 2 tracked gifts.

Senate, Texas

$110,000 across 11 tracked gifts.

Stock trades by TX-23's member

No disclosed trades in these companies by TX-23's member in the QPQ Tracker's records.

Data centers and schools

Data centers within 25 miles of your location and in Val Verde County, TX. Spending per pupil for COMSTOCK IND SCH DIST 903 (NCES 4814920).

Data centers

0 facilities within 25 miles

No data centers within 25 miles of this location in the FracTracker dataset.

  • Your location

School spending

$15,010 per pupil

Current spending, FY2024, 200 students enrolled.

+34.9% since FY2013

Spending per pupil rose +34.9% from FY2013 to FY2024 ($11,129 to $15,010). No local price index covers the same years.

  • Spending per pupil, as reported

Summary

Val Verde County, TX, basket of 8 items, 5-year timescale. Prices for the West South Central division. No metro data is published for your county.

Prices

Eggs: $2.37 per dozen, grade A large as of Sep 2026 (average price for the South region. No metro data is published for your county. BLS publishes no division average price for eggs), up 43.3% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.1

Milk: $3.90 per gallon, whole as of Sep 2026 (average price for the South region. No metro data is published for your county. BLS publishes no division average price for milk), up 10.3% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.2

Ground beef: $6.50 per pound, 100% ground beef as of Sep 2026 (average price for the South region. No metro data is published for your county. BLS publishes no division average price for ground beef), up 52.0% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.3

Gasoline: $3.84 per gallon, regular unleaded as of Sep 2026 (average price for the West South Central division. No metro data is published for your county), up 38.4% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.4

Electricity: $0.16 per kilowatt-hour as of Sep 2026 (average price for the South region. No metro data is published for your county. The division series stopped in Dec 2024), up 25.4% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.5

Rent: index 137.2 as of Sep 2026 (prices for the West South Central division. No metro data is published for your county), up 24.8% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.6

Car insurance: index 846.1 as of Sep 2026 (prices for the U.S. city average. No metro data is published for your county. The division series stopped in Dec 2021. The region series stopped in Dec 2021), up 49.4% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.7

Prescription drugs: index 543.6 as of Sep 2026 (prices for the U.S. city average. No metro data is published for your county. BLS publishes no division or region index for prescription drugs), up 4.2% from Sep 2021 to Sep 2026.8

Lobbying

While eggs rose 43.3 percent in the South region over 5 years, the food and agricultural industries held 215 lobbying contracts and filed 792 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue codes FOO, AGR, including UNITED EGG PRODUCERS (2 contracts, 7 filings), CAL-MAINE FOODS (1 contract, 5 filings).9,1

While milk rose 10.3 percent in the South region over 5 years, the food and agricultural industries held 215 lobbying contracts and filed 792 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue codes FOO, AGR, including INTERNATIONAL DAIRY FOODS ASSOCIATION (3 contracts, 12 filings), NATIONAL MILK PRODUCERS FEDERATION (3 contracts, 12 filings), LAND O'LAKES (2 contracts, 8 filings).9,2

While ground beef rose 52.0 percent in the South region over 5 years, the food and agricultural industries held 215 lobbying contracts and filed 792 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue codes FOO, AGR, including MEAT INSTITUTE (FKA NORTH AMERICAN MEAT INSTITUTE) (1 contract, 10 filings), CARGILL INC (2 contracts, 8 filings), CARGILL, INC. (2 contracts, 8 filings).9,3

While gasoline rose 38.4 percent in the West South Central division over 5 years, the fuel and oil and energy industries held 199 lobbying contracts and filed 692 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue codes FUE, ENG, including AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE (5 contracts, 21 filings), VALERO ENERGY CORPORATION (4 contracts, 17 filings), EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION (4 contracts, 16 filings).9,4

While electricity rose 25.4 percent in the South region over 5 years, the energy and utility industries held 189 lobbying contracts and filed 642 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue codes ENG, UTI, including NEXTERA ENERGY, INC. (14 contracts, 52 filings), EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE (10 contracts, 40 filings), SOUTHERN COMPANY (9 contracts, 39 filings).9,5

While rent rose 24.8 percent in the West South Central division over 5 years, the housing and real estate industries held 38 lobbying contracts and filed 132 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue codes HOU, RES, including NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (6 contracts, 24 filings), NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION (3 contracts, 12 filings), INVITATION HOMES INC. (2 contracts, 9 filings).9,6

While car insurance rose 49.4 percent in the U.S. over 5 years, the insurance industry held 49 lobbying contracts and filed 207 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue code INS, including AMERICAN PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION (9 contracts, 37 filings), NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANIES (6 contracts, 25 filings), LIBERTY MUTUAL GROUP (4 contracts, 19 filings).9,7

While prescription drugs rose 4.2 percent in the U.S. over 5 years, the pharmaceutical and health care industries held 369 lobbying contracts and filed 1,372 federal lobbying reports in 2025 under issue codes PHA, HCR, including PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA (22 contracts, 90 filings), PHRMA (13 contracts, 53 filings), ELI LILLY AND COMPANY (11 contracts, 51 filings).9,8

Money in your district

TX-23 House candidates received $39,500 across 2 tracked gifts from PACs of the industries behind this basket: Valero Energy Corporation Political Action Committee $37,500 to Tony Gonzales for Congress; PhRMA PAC $2,000 to Tony Gonzales for Congress.10

Texas Senate candidates received $110,000 across 11 tracked gifts from the same PACs: ExxonMobil PAC $30,000 to Ted Cruz for Senate; ExxonMobil PAC $15,000 to Texans for Senator John Cornyn Inc.; Valero Energy Corporation Political Action Committee $10,000 to Republican Party of Texas.10

Energy

Electricity: AEP Texas Central Company delivers power in Val Verde County; retail prices are set by competitive providers, and the Texas statewide residential average was 15.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in Aug 2026.12,11

The Texas statewide residential electricity price rose 33.2% from Aug 2021 to Aug 2026.11

Gasoline: $3.63 per gallon, regular grade, gasoline for Texas statewide, week of 2026-10-26, up 20.7% from Oct 2021 to Oct 2026.13

Data centers

Data centers: none within 25 miles of this location in the FracTracker dataset.14

School spending

School spending: COMSTOCK IND SCH DIST 903 spent $15,010 per pupil in FY2024, up 34.9% from $11,129 in FY2013.15

WalletShock shows lobbying activity alongside price changes. It does not assert that one caused the other.

What Texas has on record for Val Verde County

Hood County's question to the Attorney General, whether a county may pause industrial development, has waited 251 days and reads "Pending". Reported gifts to the Attorney General's federal committees from the data center industry: at least $448,000 through June 2026, as reported by NOTUS. See the full question and the gifts on the Hood County page.

Sources: Office of the Attorney General, request RQ-0633-KP status page; NOTUS, August 11, 2026.

Local actions on data centers

Actions by Val Verde County's commissioners court and by cities in the county, as reported in the sources on each line. Only actions those sources describe are listed.

No action by Val Verde County's commissioners court or its cities on data centers is described in the sources WalletShock tracks. Statewide, the pending question before the Attorney General and the actions of other counties are on the Texas page.

See every county and city action on the Texas page

From the filings: 64 gifts totaling $1,045,875 to Attorney General Paxton's campaign committees from donors on the data center industry list, and 105 lobbyists registered in Austin in 2026 by companies on that list.

Val Verde County's adopted county tax rate was $0.5342 per $100 of value in 2021 and $0.4977 in 2025, a change of −6.8 percent. The state's sales tax exemption for data centers is estimated at $1,598.0 million for fiscal 2027.

Adopted property tax rates for every taxing unit in Val Verde County from the Comptroller's rates and levies files, Chapter 312 abatement agreements the Comptroller lists for the county, and the Comptroller's estimate of the statewide data center sales tax exemption. Each figure names its file.

Adopted tax rates per $100 of value, 2021 to 2025, by taxing unit

Taxing unit20212022202320242025Change
County
Val Verde$0.5342$0.4977$0.4977$0.4977$0.4977−6.8 percent
Cities
Del Rio$0.707$0.707$0.697$0.697$0.7070.0 percent
School districts
Comstock ISD$1.0771$0.9371$0.7515$0.9165$0.9165−14.9 percent
Rocksprings ISD(split)$0.9247$0.9104$0.7103$0.8603$0.8453−8.6 percent
San Felipe-Del Rio CISD$1.0322$1.133046$0.9386$0.9363$0.9363−9.3 percent
Special districts
Val Verde County Hospital District$0.096$0.0821$0.07$0.07515$0.0785−18.2 percent

Rates are as the Comptroller publishes them in its annual rates and levies files; the change is from the first to the last year each unit reports. A school district marked split reaches into more than one county; the rate is the same in each. TEA's adopted school rates, which run on the school year, are loaded beside these for the Step 9 comparison.

Chapter 312 abatement agreements

The Comptroller's Chapter 312 table lists no abatement agreement for a taxing unit in Val Verde County.

The statewide data center sales tax exemption, by fiscal year

FY 2025FY 2026FY 2027FY 2028FY 2029FY 2030
$1,015.6M$1,305.1M$1,598.0M$1,600.9M$1,692.9M$1,753.3M

The Comptroller's estimate of state revenue not collected under Tax Code Section 151.359, in millions of dollars, from its January 2025 Tax Exemptions and Tax Incidence report. The large data center exemption is included in these figures. Statewide; no county share is published.

When the Legislature created the exemption in 2013, lawmakers were told it would reduce state revenue by about $14.6 million for the 2014-15 biennium, the exemption's first two years, KUT reported in July 2026. The same report put the current projection at roughly $3.3 billion for the 2028-29 budget cycle. KUT.

The grid and your bill

The delivery company for Val Verde County from EIA's Form 861 service territories, its delivery charges from the PUC's rate reports, today's retail offers from Power to Choose for that company, EIA's statewide residential averages, and what the state has on record for the grid. Retail offers and delivery charges are by company, EIA and ERCOT figures are statewide.

Who delivers your power

AEP Texas Central delivers power in Val Verde County: EIA-861 lists AEP Texas Central Company as serving the county, with 784,148 residential customers statewide in 2024, the most of the delivery companies listed for the county.

AEP Texas Central's residential delivery charges as of September 1, 2026: a customer charge of $1.27 and a metering charge of $1.97 per month, and 0.058 dollars per kilowatt-hour, which the PUC's report puts at $61.07 for a 1,000 kilowatt-hour month before the retail provider's energy charge. PUC of Texas, AEP Texas rate report (Central and North columns).

What retailers are offering today

On November 1, 2026, Power to Choose listed 140 fixed-rate offers for homes on AEP Texas Central (166 offers in all). At 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month the lowest was 5.70 cents per kilowatt-hour and the median 11.90 cents per kilowatt-hour, delivery included, as the site prices them.

The statewide average, by the same month

EIA's statewide residential average was 15.91 cents per kilowatt-hour in August 2026, against 15.40 cents per kilowatt-hour in August 2025, the same month a year earlier: up 0.51 cents. EIA table 5.6.A.

Five years earlier, in August 2021, the same statewide average was 11.94 cents per kilowatt-hour, so August 2026 stands 33.2 percent higher than the same month five years before.

EIA's annual statewide residential average for Texas was 11.71 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2020, the latest year in its annual file. EIA annual file.

Statewide figures: no county average is published. A month is compared only with the same month of an earlier year, since summer and winter prices differ.

What the state has on record for the grid

  1. August 3, 2026
    statewide (ERCOT region)
    As of the Governor's August 3, 2026 audit directive, ERCOT was tracking more than 1,800 projects in its interconnection queue representing over 474 gigawatts, more than five times the grid's record peak demand, with approximately 90 percent of the new power requests being data centers, as the Texas Tribune and the Governor's office reported. Source, Detail.The Part E brief gives 474.7 gigawatts and 90.2 percent as of June 2026; the Tribune and the Governor's release say "over 474 gigawatts" and "approximately 90 percent". The rounded figures are recorded because those are what the cited sources print; the decimals go in when an ERCOT document stating them is added as a source.
  2. August 3, 2026
    Statewide
    On August 3, 2026 Governor Abbott directed the PUC and ERCOT to conduct a comprehensive verification and audit of every data center advancing through ERCOT's interconnection queue, with any project that fails to comply denied connection to the grid, as the Texas Tribune reported. Source, Detail.
  3. June 10, 2026
    Statewide
    On June 10, 2026 Governor Abbott directed the PUC to take action so that data center interconnections result in reduced residential bills and to require data centers to pay all of their electric infrastructure costs, and directed the PUC and ERCOT to review their authorities and report by July 17, 2026, with the PUC to begin action on residential transmission costs by July 31, 2026. Source.
  4. June 20, 2025
    Statewide
    Senate Bill 6 of the 89th Legislature, by King, was signed by the Governor on June 20, 2025 and took effect immediately; it gives ERCOT oversight of transactions between generators and large loads such as data centers and authority to cut and redistribute their power in an emergency, as the Texas Tribune described it. Source, Detail.

ERCOT's queue figures are statewide or by load zone and are never broken down by county.

The water line

Water figures reported for proposed facilities in Val Verde County, beside the county's own water use as the Texas Water Development Board estimates it, and the groundwater conservation district for the county's center point. Claims are as reported, not measured.

No facility-level dataset of data center water use exists in Texas. No state agency publishes how much water any data center takes, and the Texas Tribune reports that the state does not holistically track water use by the industry, there being no uniform way for reporting or tracking it. Figures for a proposed facility come only from what a developer, an official or residents have said in public, with the source named.

What has been said about proposed facilities here

No water figure for a proposed data center in Val Verde County has been reported in the sources WalletShock tracks.

Pages checked with no published figure

On September 24, 2026, WalletShock opened 98 pages across Texas looking for a water figure tied to a specific data center. The pages below mention facilities in Val Verde County and give no such figure; each is linked so a reader can look for themselves. Where a page could not be read in full (a paywall, an unreadable document), its title says so.

No page opened on September 24, 2026 mentioned a facility in Val Verde County.

A list of pages opened is a record of what was looked at, not proof that no figure exists. When a figure for a facility is published, it belongs in the reported figures above, with its source.

What the county uses

Val Verde County's municipal water use in 2024 was 11,496 acre-feet (11,496 from groundwater, 0 from surface water), serving an estimated population of 47,999, in the Water Development Board's historical water use estimates. TWDB.

Water use by category in 2024, acre-feet

  • Municipal11,496
  • Manufacturing7
  • Mining0
  • Power0
  • Irrigation4,554
  • Livestock392

Whose groundwater district

The county's center point lies in no groundwater conservation district, by the Water Development Board's district boundaries.

Groundwater conservation districts permit and regulate wells in their area; the boundaries are TWDB's file, current as of November 2019 per its GIS data page, and are approximate.

Write to your commissioners court

The letter below is written from this page's figures, each with its source, and asks the Val Verde County Commissioners Court two questions. Put your name on it and send it, or copy it and send it your own way.

No letters have been counted from the Val Verde County page yet. Counted when the letter campaign confirms a delivery; letters copied and sent by hand are not counted.

November 1, 2026

Val Verde County Commissioners Court

To the County Judge and Commissioners:

I live in Val Verde County and I am writing about data center development here. I have set out below what public records show, each with where it comes from, and I have two questions for the court.

FracTracker Alliance's data center dataset lists 0 facilities in Val Verde County and 0 within 25 miles of the county's center, by status as FracTracker records it. Data provided by FracTracker Alliance (2026). Accessed via https://www.fractracker.org/data-centers/ (Source: FracTracker Alliance data centers dataset, https://www.fractracker.org/data-centers/)

The Hood County Attorney's request to the Attorney General, docket RQ-0633-KP, has waited 251 days as of today and reads "Pending" on the Attorney General's website. (Source: Office of the Attorney General, request RQ-0633-KP status page, https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/requests/ken-paxton/rq-0633-kp)

Val Verde County's adopted county tax rate was $0.5342 per $100 of value in 2021 and $0.4977 in 2025, a change of −6.8 percent. (Source: Texas Comptroller, property tax rates and levies files, https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/rates/index.php)

AEP Texas Central delivers power in Val Verde County, by EIA's Form 861 service territory file for 2024. (Source: EIA Form 861 service territories, as loaded by WalletShock, https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/)

EIA's statewide residential electricity average was 15.91 cents per kilowatt-hour in August 2026, against 15.40 cents per kilowatt-hour in August 2025, the same month a year earlier. (Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A, https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a)

Val Verde County's municipal water use was 11,496 acre-feet in 2024, in the Texas Water Development Board's estimates. (Source: Texas Water Development Board, historical water use estimates by county, https://www3.twdb.texas.gov/apps/SARA/reports/list)

1. Does the court intend to act on data center applications in Val Verde County, and if so, on what schedule?

2. Hood County asked the Attorney General on February 23, 2026 whether a county may declare a moratorium on industrial development, and that request still reads "Pending" on the Attorney General's website. What does this court need from the Attorney General to decide its own course, and has it asked?

I would be grateful for a reply in writing. Every figure above is from the source named beside it, and the page I used is public at walletshock.org/tx.

Respectfully,

[your name]
Val Verde County, Texas

Where to send it: the Val Verde County Commissioners Court, as the county publishes it

The Val Verde County Commissioners Court's published addresses have not been added yet; the campaign starts with Hood, Smith, Van Zandt and Bosque counties. Copy the letter and send it to the court through the county's website.

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Sources

  1. 1.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, series APU0300708111, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU0300708111
  2. 2.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, series APU0300709112, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU0300709112
  3. 3.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, series APU0300703112, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU0300703112
  4. 4.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, series APU037074714, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU037074714
  5. 5.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, series APU030072610, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU030072610
  6. 6.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, not seasonally adjusted, series CUUR0370SEHA, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0370SEHA
  7. 7.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, not seasonally adjusted, series CUUR0000SETE, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SETE
  8. 8.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, not seasonally adjusted, series CUUR0000SEMF01, retrieved 2026-11-02. https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SEMF01
  9. 9.U.S. Senate Office of Public Records, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings for 2025, via the LDA REST API, retrieved 2026-11-01. A contract is one client and one lobbying registrant with a filing in the year; a filing count is the number of reports and registrations, not a dollar figure. https://lda.gov/api/
  10. 10.QPQ Tracker (purchasingpolicy.org) entity connections, fetched 2026-11-01, joined to FEC committee and candidate master files. Coverage is the tracker's curated set, at most 100 connections per entity. https://www.purchasingpolicy.org
  11. 11.U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Sales to Ultimate Customers (API v2, electricity/retail-sales, residential sector), retrieved 2026-11-02. https://www.eia.gov/opendata/
  12. 12.U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power Industry Report 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers, Delivery Companies and Service Territory files. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/
  13. 13.U.S. Energy Information Administration, Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices (API v2 petroleum/pri/gnd, regular grade, area STX), retrieved 2026-11-02. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/
  14. 14.Data provided by FracTracker Alliance (2026). Accessed via https://www.fractracker.org/data-centers/. Facility status, size and community pushback fields are FracTracker's own. https://www.fractracker.org/data-centers/
  15. 15.U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, individual unit tables FY2013 to FY2024, district COMSTOCK IND SCH DIST 903 (NCES 4814920). Not adjusted for inflation. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances.html