In Matagorda County, a rural stretch better known for fishing boats and birdwatchers than server racks, residents are lining up against two proposed data centers that they say could siphon off local water and power while reshaping long-quiet landscapes. Developers and some county officials, for their part, describe the projects as modest 10-megawatt facilities that would add tax revenue and a small number of jobs. The fight has already spawned an online petition, a Facebook group and noticeably fuller seats at local meetings.
As reported by ABC13, opponents have organized under the banner Matagorda County Against Data Centers, arguing that locals deserve a stronger say in what gets built in their backyard. Residents quoted by the station, including Donna Howard and Cheryl Wilkins, flagged worries about wells, farms and the tourism economy. A county petition hosted on Change.org has pulled in hundreds of verified signatures and casts Matagorda as the "Birding Capital" that could be put at risk by heavy industrial uses.
Who’s proposing the builds
Industry coverage shows that Houston-based Barrio Energy is marketing two 10-megawatt sites in Matagorda County that would be leased out to tenants, according to Data Center Dynamics. The outlet notes that Barrio operates multiple locations across Texas and works with a mix of clients. Company leadership has described the Matagorda sites as well suited to the ERCOT South Zone and appealing for next-generation computing.
Power and water math, in plain terms
By a rough back-of-the-envelope calculation, a 10-megawatt data center running at full load around the clock would use about 87.6 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year. That is roughly comparable to the annual consumption of about 8,000 U.S. households, based on household-use figures from the EIA. Water use can be a lot more complicated. Research compiled by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found that medium-sized data centers that rely on evaporative cooling can consume tens of millions of gallons of water each year. One LBNL estimate placed 15-megawatt sites in the approximate range of 80 to 130 million gallons annually, with actual use heavily dependent on cooling design and local operating practices. Numbers like that help explain why neighbors who rely on wells and irrigation see even a "small" data center as creating a major new local demand.
Local stakes and regulatory backdrop
County officials have told reporters that they were informed the proposed Matagorda projects would not need municipal well hookups and that the facilities could increase tax revenue and ease the local tax burden, as ABC13 reports. Opponents say they plan to press county commissioners and utilities for transparency at public hearings, while developers advance through interconnection studies and permit applications. At the state level, the Public Utility Commission and lawmakers have been updating rules for very large power loads after Senate Bill 6. Lawyers and energy analysts say those reforms, which are aimed at projects above the 75-megawatt threshold, are reshaping how new data center demand is analyzed and paid for, creating an evolving framework that still shapes planning and community review (see analysis by Greenberg Traurig).
For now, the Matagorda clash looks likely to be decided less by viral headlines and more by public comment periods, interconnection studies and stacks of permit paperwork. Residents are asking for independent analysis and a pause. Developers and some officials say they will follow the formal review channels, which means county meetings in the coming weeks and months are where this local drama will quietly, but decisively, play out.
