San Marcos, Texas, voted 4-3 on June 16 to amend zoning rules in a move that effectively bans data center development, joining rising voter and local-government pushback. The decision comes as a statewide poll shows majority opposition and state leaders move t
The vote in San Marcos looked narrow on paper—4-3—but the message felt bigger: data centers are colliding with the realities of water and power.
On Tuesday, June 16, the San Marcos City Council adopted a new ordinance amending its zoning rules to effectively ban data center development in the city. The council cited concerns about the strain the projects would place on local water and energy resources.
It was the first time a Texas city has banned data centers. Still, it wasn’t the first time Texans had pushed back against the industry.
A new poll from the University of Texas and the Texas Politics Project, released last week, found that 56% of Texas voters oppose the construction of data centers in their communities, and 42% say they are strongly opposed.
San Marcos is also arriving after a year of stop-and-start attempts elsewhere in Texas. Two Texas counties tried to halt data center construction, but neither pause held up.
Hill County leaders passed a moratorium on data centers this year. It was later rescinded after a developer sued the county for $100 million in June. In Hood County. county leaders pulled a moratorium after a Texas state senator asked for an attorney general’s opinion on whether counties could impose such restrictions.
The push in local governments is unfolding while Texas state leaders signal they’re preparing to regulate the industry from above. On June 10, Gov. Greg Abbott announced he directed state regulators to require data centers to fully fund the costs of the electric infrastructure needed to serve their operations.
Abbott said he would work with the 90th Texas Legislature. which convenes in January 2027. to pursue a package of changes aimed at both infrastructure and impact. Among the proposals: requiring data centers to reduce impacts on local communities through best practices such as setbacks. noise-reduction technology and other measures; codifying state regulators’ actions requiring data centers to pay for their own electric infrastructure costs; ensuring data centers add to Texas’s electric capacity—not just Texas’s electric demand; requiring new data centers to be built with water-efficient technologies such as closed-loop cooling systems; requiring large data centers to report electricity and water usage annually to state regulators; and repealing sales tax exemptions and other outdated or unnecessary incentives for data centers.
Texas is currently facing a fast-growing pipeline of projects, with 248 planned data centers and 519 ERCOT grid requests. Gov. Abbott has also ordered protections for rates and water.
Taken together, the local decisions and the state’s promised rulemaking point in the same direction: the debate isn’t just about whether data centers belong in Texas, but who pays, who bears the strain, and how communities are protected as the buildout accelerates.
San Marcos data centers ban Texas data center opposition Greg Abbott regulations ERCOT grid requests water and electricity costs zoning ordinance University of Texas poll Texas Politics Project Hill County moratorium Hood County moratorium closed-loop cooling systems