Staff: Garland data centers use little municipal water but could add major electric demand; city outlines protections

City staff and Garland Power & Light briefed the City Council on July 6 on data‑center water and electricity use, and on the economic tax revenue those facilities have produced. The presentation emphasized that current data‑center water demand is small compared with Garland’s largest commercial users, while potential electric demand from proposed data‑center buildout could be large and will depend on ERCOT interconnection approvals and transmission upgrades.

"For our first data center ... about 7,000,000 gallons per year," Crystal Owens, assistant city manager, said while walking council through the city's customer‑usage ranking. Garland Power & Light's general manager, Daryl Cline, framed the electric picture: "That's 0.6% of the ERCOT demand is what Garland Power and Light made up of the overall ERCOT demand, less than 1%." Staff also reported that Data Center D has measured about 5,300,000 gallons/year and that irrigation at large commercial sites accounts for most higher water totals.

The utility explained how it bills and mitigates risk for large loads. Cline described a GP&L tariff that applies to customers with 20 megawatts or greater and said contracts use limited fixed‑term power supply arrangements, contract‑for‑differences mechanics, security postings and three months of collateral to protect the city if a large customer left the system. He also said large customers must participate in load shed and low‑frequency response events so other customers do not shoulder disproportionate risk.

Council members pressed staff on whether data centers drive residential rate increases. Cline and other utility staff said Garland’s share of ERCOT demand remains small today but that a buildout of the sites under discussion could raise GP&L peak requirements; they pointed out market signals and contract structures that reduce direct exposure for Garland ratepayers. Staff presented a graph showing current measured demand from data centers in Garland at under 90 megawatts and an aggregate proposed maximum demand on GP&L's service territory of roughly 500 megawatts (with total proposed Garland area demand around 750 megawatts). The utility noted ERCOT’s batching and interconnection processes are intended to avoid double counting and to limit what is ultimately allowed to interconnect.

Economic impacts were also highlighted. City finance staff said data centers have contributed about $13.7 million in property and sales tax to date in 2026 and about $35.5 million over the last five years, largely from business personal property (servers) and associated sales tax on purchases.

Public comment included a resident and local company founder, James Cook, who urged transparency and said his planned AI health‑care research center (de‑identified medical imaging) would require long lead times: "Garland residents deserve transparency. We deserve to know what's being built, what resources it requires, and whether those projects are being developed responsibly," he said.

The council did not take action on policy changes at the work session; staff said ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission processes and the city's tariff protections are the primary tools for managing interconnection and financial risk. Councilmembers asked for continued updates and for materials that better explain the take‑or‑pay, security and load‑shed mechanics for public audiences.