At a public hearing this week, all 20 people who spoke supported a proposed 90-day moratorium on new data center applications in the north Texas city, amid concerns about strain on city resources. The hearing was the first of two scheduled sessions on the proposal.
Denton, located about 40 miles north of downtown Dallas, has two data center projects underway, with Core Scientific’s expansion estimated to be completed in 2027 and Qumulus AI operations expected to begin in 2028, as reported by The Dallas Morning News. Those two projects would not be stopped by the proposed moratorium, which would apply only to new applications going forward. City leaders identify the existing developments as Core Scientific, an expanding high-performance computing campus on 78.85 acres of city-leased land along Jim Christal Road, and Qumulus AI, which secured a specific-use permit in January to build a modular facility, according to Community Impact.
Grid Strain and Noise Top Residents’ Concerns
Residents at the hearing raised concerns about strain on city resources, per the Dallas Morning News account. Denton Municipal Electric has warned that its transmission grid is operating near capacity and has proposed roughly $300 million in transmission line projects to handle expanding loads while it awaits approval from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, according to CBS Texas.
The station’s report also notes that existing data centers have generated real financial benefits for the city, producing more than $3.5 million in tax revenues and nearly $9 million in electric return-on-investment and franchise fees. That tension — welcome tax dollars versus a grid that’s running hot — is part of why the fight isn’t simple. Annie Heffley, a resident who spoke at the hearing, said the moratorium makes a statement that Denton opposes data centers and pushed back on the idea that such development is inevitable, the Dallas Morning News reported.
A Vote Set for December, With Limits on What It Can Do
Mayor Pro Tem Nick Stevens asked supporters of the moratorium to raise their hands, according to the Dallas Morning News. The proposed pause would run 90 days and could be extended another 90 days, for a total of about six months, with the city council expected to vote in December. A second public hearing on the moratorium is scheduled for October 27.
Beyond the temporary pause, Denton City Council discussed possible development code amendments in August, including potential Specific Use Permit requirements, narrower zoning districts, and cooling standards, according to Community Impact. The proposed moratorium would last no more than 180 days, and approved projects would not be affected.
Denton’s Fight Is Part of a Statewide Reckoning
Denton’s public hearing landed just a day after Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to freeze all environmental permit approvals for data center projects statewide until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and state water regulators complete comprehensive audits, according to the Texas Tribune. The governor, who said in November that he wanted Texas to become an “epicenter of AI development,” has tried since June to slow down and increase oversight of new data center development statewide, per the Dallas Morning News, and data centers have prompted growing bipartisan backlash across the state.
The pressure behind that backlash is stark: the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is evaluating more than 474 gigawatts in new grid connection requests statewide as of August, more than five times the state’s record peak electricity demand, with data centers accounting for roughly 90% of those requests, according to the Office of the Texas Governor.
