[Data Center Regulation News Conference on August 25, 2026.]
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ALRIGHT, GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.
MY NAME IS VANESSA FUENTES, AUSTIN CITY COUNCILMAN.
I'M JOINED HERE TODAY WITH MY COLLEAGUES, COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL ALTER, CADRE AND VELASQUEZ.
AND WE'RE GONNA TALK ALL ABOUT DATA CENTERS.
AS Y'ALL KNOW, WE JUST GOT BRIEFED, UM, DURING WORK SESSION, THE FULL CITY COUNCIL ON DATA CENTER REGULATIONS, AND THERE'S A LOT THERE FOR US TO UNPACK.
AND SO WE WANTED TO TAKE TIME TO ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE OVER THIS IMPORTANT TOPIC.
AS WE CONSIDER THOSE REGULATIONS, WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE IMPACTS OF DATA CENTERS ARE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
IN FACT, WE CAN JUST LOOK TO NEIGHBORING AREAS.
IN VIRGINIA DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT INCREASED UTILITY BILLS BY UP TO 290%.
AND IN WYOMING, JUST A MONTH AGO, A RUSH DATA CENTER CONSTRUCTION CONTAMINATED THE COMMUNITY'S WATER SUPPLY.
THIS ISN'T SUSTAINABLE AND WE WON'T WAIT FOR A CRISIS TO HAPPEN HERE, WHICH IS WHY TODAY WE ARE PURSUING A FULL BAN ON LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS IN AUSTIN.
THIS ESPECIALLY MATTERS IN TEXAS.
NOT LONG AGO, STATE LEADERS STOOD ALONGSIDE TECH BILLIONAIRES TO DECLARE TEXAS THE EPICENTER OF AI DEVELOPMENT.
THEN THEY HANDED OUT BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO THE INDUSTRY WITH TAX EXEMPTIONS TO PROVE IT.
WE NOW HAVE ENOUGH DATA CENTERS TO POWER 1.6 MILLION TEXTS IN HOMES.
SIMPLY PUT, THE CHOICE SHOULDN'T BE BETWEEN BIG TEXT, BOTTOM LINE, AND OUR RIGHT TO CLEAN WATER, OUR RIGHT TO CLEAN AIR, AND OUR RIGHT TO SEAT TO SIMPLY KEEP THE LIGHTS ON.
THAT IS WHY WE ARE FIGHTING FOR THIS BAN.
BUT THE CONSEQUENCES DON'T JUST START AND END WITHIN OUR CITY LIMITS.
OUR WATER SUPPLY DOESN'T JUST BELONG TO AUSTIN.
OUR POWER GRID DOESN'T EXIST IN ISOLATION.
A DATA CENTER ANYWHERE IN THE REGION WILL STILL STRAIN THE VERY RESOURCES AND THE UTILITY RATES THAT WE FIGHT TO PROTECT.
THAT IS WHY WE MUST ALSO COORDINATE WITH OUR NEIGHBORING COUNTIES AND ENSURE THAT WE'RE NOT JUST PUSHING THE PROBLEM NEXT DOOR.
THE PEOPLE OF AUSTIN HAVE BEEN VERY CLEAR.
THE INDUSTRY MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW.
WITH THAT, I'LL TOSS IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUE, COUNCIL MEMBER JOSE VELASQUEZ.
I'M COUNCILMAN MEMBER JOSE VELASQUEZ.
OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY HAVE TAKEN TIME OUT OF THEIR LIVES AWAY, UH, OUT OF THEIR JOBS AND AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES TO COME TO CITY HALL AND TELL US HOW THEY FELT ABOUT LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS IN AUSTIN.
WE ARE LISTENING AS MY COLLEAGUE, AS MY COLLEAGUES AND I SAID IN OUR MESSAGE BOARD POST YESTERDAY, WE CANNOT AND WE WILL NOT SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT.
THE PRESIDENT OF HYPERSCALE DATA CENTERS WITHIN THE CITY.
MAJOR DATA DATA CENTERS BRING TOO MANY UNKNOWN AND UNDEFINED ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS.
AND MY CONCERN IS THAT THIS WOULD AGAIN, INE EQUITABLY AFFECT LOW INCOME AND HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE FACED THE REALITIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE FOR FAR TOO LONG IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
I AM COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER.
AND AS DISCUSSED TODAY, BOTH AT THE WORK SESSION AND HERE, I THINK IT IS PRETTY CLEAR THAT LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS DO NOT BELONG IN AUSTIN.
I HAVE HEARD FROM RESIDENT AFTER RESIDENT WHO SAID, WE DON'T WANT THEM TO COME HERE AND MAKE OUR ELECTRICITY MORE EXPENSIVE.
WE DON'T WANT THEM TO COME HERE AND SUCK US DRY WHEN WE'RE ALREADY IN DROUGHT.
WE DON'T WANT THEM HERE IN AUSTIN.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING.
WE ARE TAKING ACTION TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR COMMUNITY IS PROTECTED FROM THE EXPLOITATION OF THESE LARGE DATA CENTERS.
AS PART OF OUR CONVERSATION TODAY, WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO HONE IN ON IS MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE UPDATING OUR RULES TO MATCH WHAT WE'RE SEEING ON THE GROUND.
YOU KNOW, OUR LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE IS 40 YEARS OLD AND WHEN IT WAS WRITTEN, THERE WAS NO CONTEMPLATION OR IMAGINATION OF A DATA CENTER.
YOU KNOW, WE SQUEEZE THESE INTO SOME CATEGORY THAT THEY REALLY DON'T BELONG.
AND SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE PROHIBIT DATA CENTERS FROM ALL OF OUR EXISTING CATEGORIES, OUR EXISTING ZONES, AND USE THE TOOL THAT WE HAVE, WHICH IS THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE ZONING.
IN ORDER TO SAY WE'RE GONNA CREATE A NEW PROCESS THAT IF ANY DATA CENTER EVER WANTS TO COME HERE, THEY HAVE TO RECEIVE PUBLIC APPROVAL, THEY HAVE TO CODE BEFORE THE COUNCIL, RECEIVE COUNCIL APPROVAL.
AND THEY HAVE TO TELL US EXACTLY WHAT THEIR IMPACT IS GONNA BE AND WE WILL HOLD THOSE PROTECTIONS IN PLACE AND MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU'RE A, YOU KNOW, A SMALL SCALE RESEARCH FACILITY LIKE WE HAVE AT THE UNIVERSITY OR
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WHAT HOSPITALS DO, THERE IS A PLACE FOR THAT.BUT IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THESE LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS, THERE'S NOT.
AND WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL.
UH, I'M REALLY HAPPY TO JOIN WITH MY COLLEAGUES TO EXPRESS OUR COMMITMENT TO BANNING LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
YOU KNOW, THE MASSIVE PROLIFERATION OF DATA CENTERS ACROSS TEXAS AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS REALLY A FUNDAMENTAL INJUSTICE OF THIS MOMENT IN HISTORY.
WHEN WE ARE JACKING UP ELECTRIC RATES AND WATER RATES WHEN WE ARE DRIVING UP LAND PRICES TO PURCHASE THESE FACILITIES WHEN WE ARE NEGATIVELY IMPACTING PEOPLE'S QUALITY OF LIFE WITH NOISE AND VIBRATIONS AND LIGHT AND OTHER NEGATIVE IMPACTS.
WHO ARE WE DOING THIS FOR? FUNDAMENTALLY, THIS IS TO BENEFIT THE BILLIONAIRES, THE VERY FEW.
IT'S NOT TO BENEFIT HUMANS, IT'S NOT TO BENEFIT OUR ENVIRONMENT.
AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, THE STATE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE DOING ABOUT THIS, AND WE NEED A NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS.
BUT UNTIL WE SEE ACTION AT HIGHER LEVELS OF, OF LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, OUR CITY AND, AND THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE COMMITTED TO TAKING ACTION LOCALLY TO PROTECT OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, TO PROTECT OUR QUALITY OF LIFE, TO MAKE SURE THESE OUTSIDE INTERESTS DON'T RUIN WHAT WE HAVE HERE IN AUSTIN.
UH, THE RAPID GROWTH OF HYPERSCALE DATA CENTERS IS ALARMING, PARTICULARLY BECAUSE OF THE ENORMOUS DEMANDS THESE FACILITIES CAN PLACE ON OUR ENERGY AND WATER RESOURCES.
AS AUSTIN CONTINUES TO GROW, WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT THOSE RESOURCES, NOT JUST FOR RESIDENTS TODAY, BUT FOR, FOR RESIDENTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS HERE IN AUSTIN, ITEM 61 STARTS A PROCESS BY DEVELOPING STRONG, PROACTIVE POLICIES AND REGULATIONS SO THAT AUSTIN IS PREPARED TO ADDRESS THE IMPACTS OF HYPER SKILLED DATA CENTERS BEFORE THEY BECOMING EVEN GREATER CHALLENGE.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH MY COLLEAGUES TO STRENGTHEN THIS ITEM AND ENSURE WE'RE TAKING A THOUGHTFUL, COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR RESPONSE.
THIS WORK IS PART OF OUR BROADER COMMITMENT TO MITIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE, ADVANCING EQUITY, AND MAKING SURE AUSTIN REMAINS A SUSTAINABLE AND LIVING PLACE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
UH, AND WITH THAT, SINCE I AM THE LAST COUNCIL MEMBER, NUMBER NINE, UM, WE WILL OPEN THE FLOOR UP FOR QUESTIONS.
JUST FOR ABSOLUTE CLARITY, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT BANNING HYPERSCALE OR LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS? SO RIGHT NOW WE'VE INITIATED A PROCESS THAT WILL VOTE ON, ON THURSDAY THAT WILL CREATE DEFINITIONS IN THE CITY CODE.
BUT AT THAT TIME WE GET TO DEFINE WHAT LARGE SCALE OR HYPERSCALE MEANS.
UM, I'LL SPEAK FOR MYSELF THAT CURRENTLY I'M RELATIVELY COMFORTABLE WITH THE EXISTING DATA CENTERS WE HAVE AT UNIVERSITIES, AT HOSPITALS, AT BANKS THAT ARE IN THE RANGE OF ONE TO 20 MEGAWATTS IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH ELECTRICITY THEY USE.
BUT I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO ALLOW MUCH BIGGER THAN THAT IN OUR COMMUNITY.
COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHY, UH, THIS IS GONNA BE A PROCESS AND YOU CAN'T JUST, YOU KNOW, RIDE AN ORDINANCE BAND INTO THE CENTER ON THURSDAY? SURE.
SO HERE, I I CAN TOUCH ON THAT.
SO THE CITY HAS THE POWER OF ZONING.
THAT IS ONE OF OUR MOST POWERFUL TOOLS.
BUT IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT ANY KIND OF ZONING CHANGE SAYING WHAT CAN OR CANNOT BE USED ON A PARTICULAR PIECE OF LAND, YOU HAVE TO FIRST INITIATE THAT PROCESS, WHICH IS WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
AND THEN YOU HAVE TO HAVE PUBLIC HEARINGS TO GO THROUGH AND LET THE PUBLIC LET, UH, GIVE THEIR FEEDBACK ON WHAT THOSE PROPOSALS ARE.
WE CAN'T JUST GO STRAIGHT TO THE FINISH LINE AND SAY, WE'RE GOING TO ABSOLUTELY CHANGE THIS ZONE OR THIS CATEGORY.
WE HAVE TO HAVE FOLLOW THE STATE RULES IN PLACE.
AND IF ITEM 61 PASSES ON THURSDAY, HOW SOON COULD WE SEE A, AN ORDINANCE TO VOTE ON? POTENTIALLY, I THINK THEY MEANT IT COME BACK IN SPRING OF 27.
UM, SO AS WAS MENTIONED, THIS INITIATES THE PROCESS AND HOW WE CAN REGULATE DATA CENTERS IN OUR CITY.
WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE 10 DATA CENTERS ACROSS AUSTIN IN MY DISTRICT AND DISTRICT TWO, WE HAVE SEVEN OF THOSE.
UH, SO CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN'S NOT ALONE IN TAKING ACTION.
WE'VE SEEN OTHER CITIES TAKE ACTION.
UH, CITY OF SAN MARCOS RECENTLY, UH, PASSED A BAN ON LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS.
AND, AND SO FOR US HERE IN AUSTIN, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE DOING OUR PART IN FIGHTING BACK FROM THE DATA CENTER PROLIFERATION THAT WE'RE SEEING HAPPENING ACROSS TEXAS AND ACROSS OUR NATION.
I THINK ONE OF THE OFFICIALS TODAY MENTIONED THERE ARE SOME LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS THAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN, IN OPENING WITHIN AUSTIN CITY LIMITS.
DO YOU THINK THAT SPRING 27TH TIMELINE WILL BE FAST ENOUGH TO KIND OF GET AHEAD OF ANY OF THOSE OPENING POTENTIALLY.
I MEAN CERTAINLY I WOULD LOVE FOR IT TO BE FASTER THAN THAT.
UM, BUT THAT IS WHAT CITY STAFF IS CURRENTLY TELLING US.
THE, THE SOONEST THEY COULD COME BACK WITH AN ORDINANCE PENDING THE DIRECTION AND GUIDANCE THAT, UH, MY COLLEAGUES AND I WILL BRING FORWARD, UM, VIA AMENDMENTS, UH, ON THURSDAY.
UH, SO CERTAINLY, UM, IN REGARDS TO PARTICULAR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY, WE'RE NOT QUITE SURE HOW IT'LL AFFECT, BUT THAT'S WHY US HAVING THIS PUBLIC CONVERSATION MATTERS.
'CAUSE WE WANNA SEND A VERY CLEAR MESSAGE OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT BEING A
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GOOD NEIGHBOR TO OUR RESIDENCE LOOKS LIKE, AND ALSO TO ENSURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS IN OUR CITY.I JUST WANT YES, JUST THE ONE FINAL THING THAT, UH, HAS WAS DISCUSSED TODAY, UM, IS IN THIS INTERIM PERIOD WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO FREEZE ANY KIND OF ACTIVITY.
AND ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO COME HERE, NOT HAVING THOSE APPLICATIONS, MAKE IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE PROCESS SO THAT THESE RULES CAN CATCH UP JUST TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY DAY.
BUT AGAIN, THAT'S NOT AN ACTUAL OFFICIAL FREEZE OR MORATORIUM THAT'S MORE JUST AN UNOFFICIAL ONE.
WELL THAT IS, THAT IS WHAT THE, OUR, THE WAY OUR SYSTEM WORKS IS WE GIVE INSTRUCTION TO MANAGEMENT.
MANAGEMENT THEN ON THE ADMINISTRATIVE SIDE TAKES THOSE ACTIONS.
SO WE HAVE GIVEN TODAY THAT INSTRUCTION IS PRETTY CLEAR THAT THERE IS WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR THAT.
UH, AND THEN THE MANAGER OR THE MAYOR ALSO TALKED ABOUT PROVIDING THE OFFICIAL DIRECTION ON THAT ON THURSDAY SO THAT THERE WILL BE AN OFFICIAL DIRECTIVE TO STAFF TO NOT MOVE FORWARD ON THESE.
AND HOW DOES, UH, UH, LARGE, LARGE, UH, USERS USE CIVIL ELECTRICITY TO DRIVE UP COSTS FOR RESIDENTIAL USERS? DO YOU WANNA TAKE THAT OR? WELL, GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE MORE DEMANDS ON AUSTIN ENERGY GENERATION CAPACITY THERE ARE THE HIGHER OUR RATES GO.
AND ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF SOME OF THESE DATA CENTERS USING HUNDREDS OF MEGAWATTS THAT WOULD REPRESENT, YOU KNOW, 10% OF OUR LOAD OR MORE.
AND SO WE ABSOLUTELY WANNA BORROW THOSE TYPES OF ENTITIES FROM LOCATING WITHIN THE CITY BECAUSE THAT WOULD PUT TREMENDOUS PRESSURE ON ALL OF THE RATE PAYERS TO PAY FOR NEW INFRASTRUCTURE AND ABSORB THOSE ADDITIONAL COSTS.
IT SOUNDS LIKE Y'ALL ARE FAIRLY UNITED ON THIS, AND YOU'VE MENTIONED PUBLIC FEEDBACK FROM, FROM YOUR CONSTITUENTS ABOUT NOT WANTING THESE HYPERSCALE FACILITIES.
HYPOTHETICALLY, IF THERE WAS ONE THAT, YOU KNOW, WAS VIEWED AS A GOOD NEIGHBOR THAT A CERTAIN COMMUNITY DID WANT IN AUSTIN, DOES THIS PROCESS ALLOW FOR THAT IN THE FUTURE? WELL, I MEAN, I, COUNCILOR SIEGEL, YOU'VE MENTIONED, UM, SOME REALLY GOOD USES BETWEEN BANKS AND HOSPITAL SYSTEMS. UM, CERTAINLY WE, DATA CENTERS ARE AN IMPORTANT POWER, AN IMPORTANT PART OF POWERING OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIFE, RIGHT? FROM OUR PHONES TO STREAMING NETFLIX.
I MEAN, THEY ARE PART OF OUR LIVES.
AND SO CERTAINLY THAT'S REALLY WHY WE WANNA ENSURE WE HAVE A PROCESS THAT DOESN'T JUST IGNORE THAT, THAT THE FACT THAT DATA CENTERS EXIST, THERE'S A GOOD WAY FOR THEM TO EXIST AND, UH, DOESN'T ALSO ADDRESS THE PROLIFERATION, THE INCREASE OF THE CONSTRUCTION COMING ONLINE.
SO IT HAS TO BE A REALLY GOOD BALANCE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I HAVE SEVEN OF THEM IN MY DISTRICT AND I WAS CHATTING WITH MY, UH, TEAM THE OTHER DAY AND I ASKED, YOU KNOW, HAVE WE EVER RECEIVED A COMPLAINT FROM A CONSTITUENT ON ONE OF OUR DATA CENTERS? AND WE HAVEN'T YET TO DATE.
AND I THINK BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALLER SCALE, SO THEY'RE LESS THAN 20 MEGAWATTS.
UM, BUT THE LARGE SCALE DATA CENTERS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ARE 75 MEGAWATTS AND ABOVE.
AND SO, UM, WHICH IS ANOTHER REASON WHY WE WANNA TAKE ACTION ON THE LARGE ONES.
WE'RE JUST GONNA, YOU WANNA GET BACK ON THERE? YEAH.