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Hood County hears residents’ concerns and readies legal work to regulate incoming data centers and power plants
Summary
At a Nov. 6 special workshop, Hood County commissioners heard developers outline proposed data centers and gas plants and heard dozens of residents demand protections for water, night skies, noise and safety; the court said it will seek outside counsel to draft Subchapter K development rules.
Granbury, Texas — At a special fall workshop of the Hood County Commissioners Court on Nov. 6, county leaders heard developers outline multiple proposed data‑center, battery storage and power‑plant projects and dozens of residents pressed the court to use Texas Government Code chapter 231, Subchapter K to adopt local development regulations.
The meeting, convened in the Emergency Operations Center, drew a large public turnout. Commissioner Samuelson opened by listing projects and explaining why the county is attractive to developers: available power and water, land and transmission lines. “There will definitely be additional meetings. This isn't a 1 and done,” Commissioner Samuelson told the room.
Residents detailed a short list of recurring concerns: water withdrawal and contamination, construction traffic and public‑safety risks on narrow roads, long‑term noise from data‑center cooling and power‑generation equipment, and light pollution that would affect the county’s dark skies and tourism. “This is our nightmare,” said Debbie Wallace, who urged commissioners to use Subchapter K to delay and regulate projects.
Developers responded with technical and mitigation descriptions. Ryan Hughes of Sailfish described a 721‑acre Comanche Circle site paired with a gas‑fired power plant and said the data center will use a closed‑loop cooling system and repurposed surface‑water rights tied to the Brazos River. NRG’s representative and others said parts of site planning would fall to state regulators such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The county’s staff and several speakers reviewed Subchapter K’s intent to protect watersheds and recreation and discussed its practical limits: counties can adopt development regulations and some setbacks, require public‑water connections or closed‑loop systems, and levy modest fines, but they also face state law constraints and potential litigation over retroactive limits. County officials repeatedly emphasized that the statute requires coordination with municipal comprehensive plans.
As a concrete next step, the judge and commissioners said the court intends to pursue outside legal counsel to draft regulations and negotiate with developer attorneys. The judge said the court will consider hiring Bracewell to assist the county at its next meeting, a move intended to give commissioners legal guidance and negotiation capacity.
What happens next: commissioners said they will hold additional workshops in larger venues, form advisory groups that may include technical experts and residents, and consider draft regulations under Subchapter K at future meetings. Developers and county staff remained available after the session to answer follow‑up questions.
Why this matters: Subchapter K gives counties specified authority to adopt development regulations aimed at protecting public health, safety and watershed uses; how Hood County interprets and implements those powers will shape whether projects move forward with local mitigation conditions or proceed with fewer local controls. The debate here reflects a broader pattern in Texas counties where large data centers, battery plants and associated power generation are proposed near rural communities.
The workshop adjourned after nearly three hours of public comment and technical exchange; the court said it would continue the process in future sessions and review legal options for drafting enforceable local standards.
