Dallas Exurb Hits Pause on Data Centers in Rare Texas Rebuke (1)

A small Texas county outside Dallas approved a one-year moratorium on new data center and energy storage developments, pushing back against the growing number of large-scale projects fueling the artificial-intelligence boom across the state.

Hill County had been approached by several data center builders in recent weeks, and feared the potential impact to local water supplies and quality of life, County Commissioner Jim Holcomb said in a meeting Tuesday. The County Commissioners Court passed the pause after hours of negative testimony from people at the meeting.

“The data center folks have found a sweet spot in a state that has ...