Data Center Watch
In roughly seven months, San Angelo rezoned 343–374 acres of city-owned land, authorized its sale to a Dallas developer, and wrote three brand-new ordinances to govern a 1.2‑gigawatt data center campus — without commissioning an independent study of what it would do to the city's water or power. This is the record, in order, with every source.
The project in brief
| Developers | Skybox Datacenters (Dallas) and Emergent Data Centers |
|---|---|
| Location | Northeast San Angelo, U.S. Highway 67 N at City Farm Road — the former city farm |
| Land | City-owned, 343–374 acres |
| Buildings | Up to six, phased 18–24 months each |
| Power | Reported at up to 1.2 GW for the full complex; earlier reporting cited 600 MW. AEP Texas is the provider; a developer-funded dedicated substation is planned. Final load is set by ERCOT studies, not by the City. |
| Claimed valuation | $21–22 billion, against a total city property tax base of $7.9 billion |
| Jobs claimed | 30–60 permanent in year one; 120–200 at full build-out over ten years; wages stated as $75,000–$110,000 |
| Independent impact study | None. “No independent impact study has been conducted.” — City of San Angelo |
Reported capacity for this campus ranges from 600 MW (December 2025) to 1.2 GW (June 2026) — a doubling with no public council action recorded in between explaining it. For scale: the AEP Red Creek substation serving the area is rated around 250 MW, and the entire city of San Angelo uses roughly 10% of it. We have an open records request drafted on the ERCOT interconnection correspondence. Help fund it →
Timeline
Every dated action we can document. Vote tallies are shown where recorded.
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May 2025Council authorizes the city manager to negotiate the land sale Unanimous
City Council votes unanimously to authorize the city manager to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with Skybox Datacenters for the city-owned tract northeast of town. This is the decision that put 343–374 acres of public land into play, and it happened months before most residents had heard the project named.
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December 2, 2025Site rezoned: Ranch & Estate → Light Manufacturing
First reading of the zone change carries. Rezoning from Ranch & Estate — the classification that had kept the old city farm rural — to Light Manufacturing is the single legal step that makes a hyperscale data center possible on this land.
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December 29, 2025Residents call their own meeting
With no city-hosted public forum scheduled, residents organize an impromptu meeting at Stephens Central Library. This is the origin of the organized opposition that becomes the San Angelo Data Center Citizen Coalition.
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January 13, 2026Zone change approved on final reading 6–1
Second reading passes 6–1. The land is now zoned for the project. Note what does not exist at this point: any adopted ordinance limiting the facility's water use, its wastewater discharge, or its noise. Those come later — after the zoning is already locked in.
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May 5, 2026First discussion of land use regulations
Council takes up proposed data center land use regulations — nearly four months after approving the zoning.
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May 19, 2026Land use ordinance adopted 6–0
Second reading of the land use regulations passes, plus first readings on water usage and wastewater discharge. Sets a 100 ft minimum front setback to residential zoning, a 75 ft maximum height, and a stated sound target of 55 dBA at residential property lines.
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May 29, 2026Recall affidavit filed against Councilmember Joe Self (District 2)
The Data Center Citizen Coalition files a recall affidavit against District 2's Joe Self. The threshold for his district is 385 valid signatures.
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June 2, 2026Sewer / discharge ordinance adopted 5–1
The wastewater discharge ordinance passes on a split vote — the closest of the three.
Read the sewer/discharge ordinance (PDF, City of San Angelo)
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June 4, 2026The recalls' cost to taxpayers becomes a story
Reporting notes that recall elections are paid for out of city funds — a cost residents bear regardless of which side of the data center they are on.
SanAngeloLive — Recall Petitions Will Be Costly for San Angelo Taxpayers
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June 9, 2026City: circulating 380 agreement documents are “only examples”
As draft Chapter 380 economic development agreement documents involving Emergent circulate online, the City issues a clarification: the documents are examples, no terms have been decided, and no agreement has been reached. The City's project page simultaneously states that “to date, there have been no incentives or subsidies offered,” while confirming 380 terms remain to be negotiated.
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June 16, 2026Water use ordinance adopted 7–0
Council unanimously adopts the water use regulations, then moves to begin negotiations with Skybox and Emergent over the campus itself. Requirements: closed-loop cooling only, no evaporative cooling, initial fill capped at 8.0 gallons per square foot of gross building area within 12 months of the certificate of occupancy, annual makeup capped at 3% of loop volume per building, drain-and-refill no more than every three years, and cooling water metered separately.
Read the water usage ordinance (PDF, City of San Angelo) · SanAngeloLive · ConchoValleyHomepage
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June 22, 2026Mayoral recall fails on signature count
The petition to recall Mayor Tom Thompson — filed over what organizers called insufficient transparency during negotiations to sell city land to Emergent/Skybox — falls short. City Clerk Heather Stastny reports fewer than 1,900 signatures submitted against a requirement of 2,971.
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July 15, 2026Recall petition filed against Councilmember Harry Thomas (District 3)
The Coalition files with the City Clerk, saying it gathered substantially more than the 47 signatures required in District 3 — a threshold that low because only 155 votes were cast in the May 2023 District 3 election. Filed almost two weeks before the July 28 deadline. Thomas: “I have no plans to resign from my position.” Under city ordinance, if he does not resign within 15 days of formal notice, Council must order a recall election within 30–90 days. His term runs to May 2027.
SanAngeloLive — Recall Petition Submitted · Thomas Says He Has No Plans to Resign
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July 24, 2026Texas Agriculture Commissioner urges a halt to data center growth
The state Agriculture Commissioner publicly calls for slowing data center expansion in Texas — a state-level intervention landing while San Angelo is mid-negotiation.
SanAngeloLive — Ag Commissioner Urges Halt to Data Center Growth
The water arithmetic
The City's position is that a closed-loop facility uses almost no water once running. Its own worked example: a 250,000 sq ft building takes roughly 2 million gallons one time to fill, then about 60,000 gallons a year in makeup water.
Earlier reporting put it at 1.5 million gallons per building — about 9 million gallons across six — plus roughly 15,000 gallons a day ongoing. San Angelo produces about 20 million gallons a day.
The cap is written per square foot of building, not as a hard ceiling on the campus. Six buildings at the 8.0 gal/sq ft limit scale with however large those buildings are permitted to be. The ordinance also permits a full drain-and-refill every three years, which resets the initial-fill volume each time.
What we have not seen — and what no ordinance requires — is a published projection of total campus water demand at full build-out, measured against the city's ~41 months of supply. See the full water picture →
The tax question
A $21–22 billion facility added to a $7.9 billion tax base would nearly triple the city's taxable value on paper. That is the entire economic case, and it is a real one.
The complication is what gets abated. The City says no incentives have been offered to date, while confirming that Chapter 380 terms remain to be negotiated. Separately, reporting in April 2026 concluded the project will qualify for a large state tax incentive regardless of what the City does — which raises the question of how much of that $21–22 billion actually reaches San Angelo's tax rolls, and in which years.
The City's own materials put the expected financial benefit in “year 5 or 6.”
No executed 380 agreement has been published. Until one is, the public cannot evaluate the deal's terms — only its projections. We are filing for the negotiation records. Fund that request →
Who is involved
| Name | Role | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Thompson | Mayor | Defended the compressed timeline, citing $400M needed for a new water treatment plant. Survived a recall petition in June 2026. |
| Harry Thomas | Councilmember, District 3 | Recall petition filed July 15, 2026. Has declined to resign. |
| Joe Self | Councilmember, District 2 | Recall affidavit filed May 29, 2026. |
| Patrick Keely | Councilmember, District 4 | Named in coverage of the approval votes. |
| Mary Coffey | Councilmember | Named in coverage of the approval votes. |
| Karen Hesse Smith | Councilmember | Named in coverage of the approval votes. |
| Rick Weise | Assistant City Manager | City staff lead referenced in project coverage. |
| Heather Stastny | City Clerk / Records Management Officer | Certifies recall petitions; processes open records requests. |
| Michael Looney | VP Economic Development, San Angelo Chamber of Commerce | Economic development advocacy for the project. |
| Skybox Datacenters | Developer (Dallas) | Original counterparty on the land negotiation. |
| Emergent Data Centers | Developer | Named counterparty in the draft Chapter 380 documents. |
| San Angelo Data Center Citizen Coalition | Residents' group | Filed all three recall efforts. |
| Jamal Schumpert | Resident / former council candidate | Prominent critic; ran against Keely. |
Inclusion on this list means a person or organization is documented as a participant in a public process. It is not an allegation of wrongdoing. If you are listed and something here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Records we are trying to get
These are drafted and waiting on filing fees. Each one is a specific, narrow request under the Texas Public Information Act.
| Request | Custodian | Status |
|---|---|---|
| All correspondence between city staff and Skybox or Emergent, Jan 2025–present | City Clerk | Drafted |
| Draft and executed Chapter 380 agreements and term sheets | City Clerk | Drafted |
| Purchase and sale agreement for the City Farm Road tract, plus the appraisal | City Clerk | Drafted |
| ERCOT interconnection and AEP load study correspondence | City Clerk | Drafted |
| Any water demand modeling performed for the campus at full build-out | Water Utilities | Drafted |