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El Paso council adopts policy to stop recruiting and incentivizing hyperscale data centers after hours of public comment
Summary
After hours of public comment from hundreds of residents raising water, power and health concerns, the El Paso City Council unanimously adopted a policy directing city staff not to recruit, pursue or offer incentives for future hyperscale data centers and to continue work on a detailed data‑center policy framework.
El Paso’s City Council on May 26 adopted a broad policy direction prohibiting the city from actively recruiting or offering incentives—such as tax abatements, fee waivers or economic development grants—to hyperscale data centers, a move council members said responds to months of community concern over water use, power demand and long‑term infrastructure impacts.
The action followed a sustained public comment period in which dozens of residents described fears that large data centers would consume scarce regional water supplies, drive greater fossil‑fuel generation and deliver relatively few permanent jobs compared with the subsidies they receive. “We deserve clean air and clean water,” said Courtney Barasa, who told the council she lives a few miles from a data‑center campus under construction. “Please vote yes on 22.”
Representative Canales, sponsor of the council motion, said the vote aligns policy with what the public has asked for while preserving the city’s legal obligation to continue developing a comprehensive data‑center policy framework for future council consideration. “This establishes a clear general policy direction: El Paso should not use taxpayer incentives to attract hyperscale data centers,” Canales said. He highlighted that Texas law limits what local governments can do and said the resolution was drafted to produce an immediate, enforceable statement of city priorities while staff completes a more detailed framework.
Council members debated the scope of the resolution before voting. Several members emphasized that the motion would not retroactively void existing contracts; instead it prevents the city from pursuing new incentive packages. “We’re not saying the project already underway goes away,” Mayor Renard Johnson said, noting that the city has begun a parallel effort to study options regarding existing agreements. The council asked staff to return in June with a draft policy that would include more precise implementation steps, such as incentives language, permitting clarification and utility‑coordination provisions.
City staff confirmed they will continue work on a broader data‑center policy and will post an interim briefing of research and public input. “We will publish the draft framework and continue outreach,” said Fernando (planning staff), describing an ongoing series of workshops and technical analyses. The council directed the city manager to proceed with the development of the final framework.
The vote was unanimous. Advocates and neighborhood leaders who urged action outside the council chambers hailed the result as a victory for community priorities, but several residents and organizers said they will continue pressing the city to pursue stronger steps, including pursuing termination of existing incentive agreements and asking other regional authorities to take aligned action. The council’s formal policy direction now stands as a citywide statement of preference while staff completes the statutory and technical work required to manage contracts and utilities going forward.
What’s next: staff will publish a draft policy and return with a detailed data‑center framework for council review; other affected jurisdictions (the Public Service Board, El Paso County) were urged by commenters to consider parallel actions.
