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Residents and advocates press Harlingen commissioners for transparency, call for moratorium on large data centers
Summary
Public commenters and community advocates urged the Harlingen City Commission to act on transparency concerns and the possible environmental and resource impacts of a proposed large data center, citing public‑records evidence of early company contact with economic development officials and asking for a public agenda item and ordinance.
Harlingen residents pressed the City Commission on April 15, 2026 over what they called a lack of transparency around talks with a company proposing a large data center and other city economic projects.
Several speakers during citizen communications urged clearer public disclosure and formal action. Don Leonard, who identified himself as District 3, said repeated redactions and closed‑door conversations have eroded public trust and called for an ordinance to ban data centers in Harlingen, saying, “Just the pollution and toxicity of the water and air alone should kill this deal” (Don Leonard).
Isaac Newman, co‑founder of the For the People Alliance, told the commission he had obtained public records indicating the company Enus Energy began property searches as early as February 2025 and that an initial 300–500‑acre proposal had grown to about 1,800 acres. Newman said the records show early conversations between Enus Energy and the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation and criticized off‑record meetings involving the mayor and the EDC. “We’ve been able to complete a public information request during that time,” Newman said, and he urged the commission to put substantive discussion of data centers on a forthcoming agenda (Isaac Newman).
Other commenters tied environmental and infrastructure risks to the proposal. Angela Valdespino pointed to a University of Cambridge study she said found AI data centers can create localized heat‑island effects and asked how those impacts would affect local agriculture and airport operations. Reagan Petri described a separate public safety concern involving a civilian sting operation and urged the city to clarify police policy in such cases so citizens who operate legally are not blocked from assisting investigations.
Commissioners acknowledged the concerns. Several members said they had been receiving differing accounts of the timeline and asked staff to place a focused agenda item on data centers and water commitments. Multiple speakers urged public disclosure of any communications between city officials and private developers and asked for clear timelines and potential mitigation measures.
The commission did not adopt any ordinance or moratorium at the meeting. Commissioners and staff said they would take steps to schedule formal consideration of the topic and to provide more public records and briefing materials ahead of those discussions. The most immediate next step described by speakers was placing a data‑center discussion on a future agenda so the public can hear staff analysis and question elected officials directly.
