Texas residents sue city over 2,100-acre data center rezoning

Residents of Granbury, Texas are suing the city after officials approved the rezoning of a 2,100-acre land parcel linked to a potential data center project. The lawsuit alleges that the annexation of the land parcel, which took place earlier this year in January, was marked Claimants say the city failed to properly disclose the annexation's connection to plans for a potential data center known as 'Project Patriot.' The lawsuit also alleges that city officials violated the Texas Open Meetings Act Shea Hopkins, director of economic development for the City of Granbury, said if all officials had visited at the same time, there "would be a quorum." The Texas Open Meetings Act stipulates that if there is a quorum, city officials must post a meeting notice and ensure discussions of official business take place in public. The lawsuit alleges the site visit constituted a "walking quorum," where discussions meeting quorum occur outside a posted meeting. The lawsuit calls for a pause on further action related to the data center and revocation of the initial annexation, as well as damages. A spokesperson for the City of Granbury told Data Center Dynamics that due to ongoing litigation, the city has no comment at this time. Bilateral Energy is a power infrastructure provider for data centers, AI, and high-performance compute, according to its website. Granbury is located in Hood County, southeast of the Fort Worth-Dallas Metropolitan Area. Hood County has seen increased data center activity recently. Real estate firm Sailfish is planning a large development in Hood County close to the Comanche Peak nuclear plant that could total more than 2,000 acres and 5 gigawatts. Mara operates a cryptomine in the county, and Pacifico Energy is planning an off-grid gas project to serve a data center development there. Hood County officials narrowly voted against a moratorium on data centers last February.