Dear Representative,
Hyperscale data centers are moving into Texas counties without the consent of the landowners and voters who will bear the long-term costs — draining water, straining the electric grid, and permanently altering rural communities with no local approval required under current Texas law.
Previous Legislatures removed many of the tools counties and cities once had to protect their residents. The 90th Legislature has the power to restore them.
The #1836Project is a decentralization project. It seeks to return real authority to Texans so they can govern their own counties and protect their own property rights — just as Texans did in 1836 against outside forces that disregarded their consent.
To that end, we present nine targeted legislative proposals organized around three principles:
I
Texans Decide. Before any hyperscale data center breaks ground in a Texas county, the voters of that county decide. One bill. The cornerstone. The only mechanism no lobbyist can buy.
II
Texans Come First. Abatement deals are transparent and public. When data centers arrive, Texans have priority on water, power, and grid capacity. Landowners are protected from noise, light, and property value damage. Five bills.
III
Restore Local Authority. Previous Legislatures stripped counties of the tools to protect themselves. The 90th Legislature can restore them. Three bills.
I — Texans Decide
1836-1 Voter Ratification of Hyperscale Data Centers — A county-wide popular vote — paid for by the developer — before any hyperscale data center may break ground in an unincorporated Texas county.
II — Texans Come First
1836-2 Data Center Property Tax Abatement Reform — Requires county-wide public notice of any Chapter 312 tax abatement application, certified mail to all property owners within 5 miles, notice to relevant water districts and electric utilities, and a public hearing — all at developer expense — before any abatement may be considered.
1836-3 Industrial Noise and Light Trespass Standards — Statewide noise and light trespass standards measured at the neighboring property line, with a private right of action for affected landowners.
1836-4 Data Center Water Consumption and Aquifer Protection — Water consumption reporting, drought contingency plans, and empowered Groundwater Conservation Districts to limit large industrial withdrawals.
1836-5 Data Center Grid Impact and ERCOT Accountability — Interruptible load agreements with ERCOT and grid impact fees so data centers pay their proportionate share of infrastructure costs.
1836-6 Data Center Neighboring Property Value Protection Bond — Requires developers to post a surety bond held in escrow for ten years; neighboring landowners who document property value decline may make claims through an administrative process — placing the financial risk on the party creating it.
III — Restore Local Authority
Rollback-1 HB 2127 Data Center Preemption Exemption — Amend the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act to exclude hyperscale data centers from its preemption provisions, restoring pre-2023 local authority.
Rollback-2 Data Center Site Annexation Authority — Restores city annexation authority over hyperscale data center development sites within their extraterritorial jurisdiction, giving municipalities a meaningful voice over industrial development that strains their infrastructure.
Rollback-3 County Health and Safety Authority Clarification — Clarifies that county health and safety authority over hyperscale data center siting was never preempted by HB 2127, removing the uncertainty that has prevented counties from acting to protect residents.
We respectfully ask three things of every member of the 90th Legislature:
- Author or co-author one or more of these bills.
- Publicly state your position — for or against — on each of the nine bills.
- Engage with the Texans in your district who have signed this letter.
We are not asking you to oppose data centers.
We are asking you to return to Texans the authority to govern their own counties and protect their own property rights.
Texans are watching — not for gestures, not for half-measures, but for the kind of leadership that actually returns power to the voters who elected you.