Data center parties draw in local groups

Those for and against a proposed data center project located between FM 209 and FM 61 have been meeting with the public and area entities to promote their cause.

Last week, members of Stream Data Centers, Headwaters Site Development and local members of Walker Ranch Development LLC met with various groups within the city including the Graham Industrial Association and members of the Concerned Citizens of Young County opposition group.

Stream Data Centers has 27 data centers located across the country. The proposed Young County hyperscale data center is listed by Stream as “DFW 04 - Graham” and features an 850-acre campus with 600 MW or higher planned IT capacity. 

This week, discussion continued with information provided to members of the Rotary Club of Graham, with members of the opposition group held a public meeting in Loving to share what they were told by the project developers.

Between November and May, land has been acquired between FM 209 and FM 61 by Walker Ranch Development LLC, who hold the purchase option for the project.

Walker Ranch Development LLC, acquired six parcels totaling approximately 850 acres between FM 209 and FM 61. That organization includes locals Wayne Christian and Barry White as well as other members.

There is potential for growth as the Graham Country Club is seeking to work with developers regarding a parcel of land owned by the club near the project site. 

Christian spoke to the Rotary Club of Graham during their meeting Tuesday, Nov. 4 and gave a background on the project. 

One of the concerns brought up through public meetings has been water use. Christian said the facility is planned to be a closed-loop system.

“It's basically a bunch of water lines running a closed loop running through there, like your radiator,” he said. “They run in, they absorb the heat, you take it outside, you run them through a bunch of chillers and you circulate that water.”

The Headwaters development team had a site visit in February where they met with Young County Judge Win Graham and City Manager Eric Garretty regarding the project, with no formal project development agreement made.

Garretty said the team spoke about the project on FM 209, but the city received no project proposal. 
The city manager said a water use agreement with the city would have to be a public record and no such request has been granted.

The Concerned Citizens of Young County met Nov. 4 at the Loving Community Center and invited those both for and against the project to learn more in an open meeting. Travis Kunkel and Ryan Mote spoke about their opposition and details regarding the project.

“The reason people are stirred up is because we're not being given a voice to actually make a decision,” Kunkel said. “This is the overwhelming problem that we have, is that it appears that it is being decided outside of the knowledge and the will of the community.” 

The opposition group first had an online petition and moved to a paper petition with the goal of adding a future ballot measure related to abatements.

An abatement is the full or partial exemption of taxes of certain property in a reinvestment zone designated by the county for economic development purposes. 

Christian told the Rotary Club members that currently the company is not seeking relief from the area hospitals and school districts.

“The agreement so far is that the hospital and the school district are left alone and get to collect 100% of the property taxes that are generated by the project,” Christian said. “Schools can't abate, and the Stream guys have agreed they're not going to ask the hospital or NCTC for any kind of tax break. So what does that leave? It leaves the county. ...Whether they're going to get it or not, I don't know.”

Taxing districts within the proposed area are the Graham Hospital District, Olney Hospital District, Graham ISD, Newcastle ISD and Young County. 

Kunkel said putting the item of an abatement on a ballot is not something that is allowable by state law, with that voting authority granted to the Young County Commissioners Court.

“We all understand that private property is private property. A man can do what he wants to do with his land. But when it comes to the abatement, since it affects our taxes, we as citizens, as free people of this country and in this county, we should have the right to vote on this one way or the other,” Kunkel said.

Mote said that the way the community could take action is to show up to local meetings and make their voices heard.

“People can stop it. You do with your voice, you do with your letters, you do with your petition. You do it by getting more behind you,” he said.

While Christian said the plan is for the construction of 10 buildings, the opposition said they were told by the developers that number could be up to 17. 

“The reason this is so unclear is it depends on who the end user is. One guy will want to build this type of layout. One guy will want to build this kind of layout,” Christian said. “It depends on who they end up selling it to. But the numbers they're using say in an average 300,000 square foot building, that's seven acres and they've got a position where they could build 10 of them and still be offset from the property lines.”

Headwaters Site Development previously stated a typical data center building employs 20-30 fulltime, longterm employees for operations, security and other positions.

Christian said the main component of the project is the electrical commitment and that will determine if the project can be completed.

“You have to get a power commitment from Oncor and it has to be approved by ERCOT. The state has to say it's okay,” Christian said. “There's a long line at Oncor of people making their applications... and they can't allocate, they can't grant more options, more power delivery options, then they have electricity. So that is actually the controlling factor for all of this. If you can't get the electricity, you can't move forward.”

Senate Bill 6 passed by the 89th Texas Legislature and signed into law in June by Gov. Greg Abbott, enacts new rules for large electrical load users such as data centers that would shut off power in the event of an emergency and require them to deploy backup generators.

Stream set up individual meetings in April with the Young County commissioners regarding the project, but no formal presentation has been made before the commissioners court.

Young County commissioners recently toured a Stream Data Center in Garland that utilizes an air-cooled system, simliar to the center being proposed for the county.

The county judge also spoke with the Graham Regional Medical Center Board of Directors and with Graham ISD regarding the data center and solar farm projects.

The first public meeting not hosted by the opposition group is scheduled to be held in the first quarter of 2026.

“They will host a series of town halls to address questions and will also open an office in the county where residents can obtain information and ask further questions,” County Judge Win Graham said. “I genuinely believe that all our concerns will be addressed soon.”