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2026-10-05 Cyber
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Regulators approve 3,000-acre Amazon data center in Wharton County, Texas
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[JTN] Amazon is building a 3,000-acre campus outside of Boling, about 10 miles southeast of Wharton. It says the complex will support at least 300 full-time jobs, with 150 becoming available by mid-2027. Construction will generate thousands of additional jobs.
Between 10-13 data center buildings are being built on the complex. Each is equivalent to the size of a Walmart Superstore.
Scarcity of water in rural farm communities is a key reason why so many rural Texas voters oppose data centers. Under Abbott’s tenure, Texas has surpassed Virginia with the most construction of data centers in the country, the Houston Business Journal reported.
Neighboring county judges have raised the alarm about residents and county governments not having water rights, calling on the legislature to act. Texas water rights and water laws are like “the old west,” Bee County Judge George Morrill has said. County officials have also called on the legislature to grant counties zoning authority to regulate data center growth. Without it, county officials say because of private property rights their hands are tied in preventing data center expansion, The Center Square reported.
In response to public outrage and a lack of data center compliance with state laws and regulations, Abbott issued four directives for data centers, including requiring them to reuse their own water. Amazon was among several dozen companies that said they would comply, The Center Square reported.
In a June directive, Abbott ordered state regulators to audit data center companies prior to approving permits to ensure they “pay for their electric infrastructure instead of shifting costs onto Texas families and small businesses, reuse their own water, reduce the cost of electricity for Texans, do not disrupt residential neighborhoods to preserve Texas’ quality of life, and pay their own way and eliminate reliance on outdated taxpayer-funded incentives,” The Center Square reported.
Abbott’s data center ban directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to halt all permits sought by data centers until the audits are completed. In another directive, he instructed data centers to follow the law related to water use reporting requirements and for the Texas Water Development Board to enforce penalties.
Amazon has said it will comply and is “building responsibly in Wharton County.” It says it’s “been building and operating data centers for nearly two decades. In that time, we've proven that we are not only good neighbors, but committed long-term collaborators in the communities where we operate and our employees live.”
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Posted by Skidmark 2026-10-05 00:04||
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