Here’s how to find information about data centers in Texas

By María Méndez, Taylor Goldenstein, Emily Foxhall, Alejandra Martinez and Chris Essig, The Texas Tribune
August 11, 2026

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Data center proposals are sprouting up in neighborhoods all across the state. And Texans have questions.

But information about the proposed projects and their potential impacts on a community is often scarce as companies say they need to withhold proprietary information to keep a competitive edge.

Tech companies can sign nondisclosure agreements with local officials that prevent them from sharing what they know and create shell companies to hide their identities in public filings. And information filed with the state and its power grid operator about water and energy consumption can be difficult to find, incomplete or not accessible to the public.

What information is accessible about a data center project can differ from place to place and depend on whether a project seeks out tax breaks, whether it needs local rezoning or special permits, and how it will get its power and water.

Here are some ways Texans and policy experts are tracking down information about data centers through local and state public records or private data companies.

How to find information about data centers through local government

Data center proposals, in some cases, will require authorizations from city councils or county commissions, giving locals an opportunity to weigh in and potentially glean more details.

If a proposed data center is located within a city with a local zoning development board that regulates where different types of properties can be built, or if a developer is seeking to acquire or use public land, there may be public meetings and notices related to the development and residents may be able to provide public comment, as required by the Texas Open Meetings Act.

The act requires public notice and access to meetings when governing bodies, such as city, county and school board officials, meet to carry out official business. Exceptions allow elected officials to meet in a closed or executive session to discuss certain matters, including the purchase, leasing or exchange of property and some financial contract negotiations, according to the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. However, final votes or actions by a governing body should take place during public meetings, according to the Texas Attorney General’s office.

County officials have fewer regulatory tools for data centers than cities because they generally lack zoning authority. But if counties negotiate tax abatements with companies, that would also be voted on in a public meeting. That’s why experts recommend checking city and county meeting agendas for discussion or approval of items related to data centers.

Who owns a data center’s property or land?

The majority of property records, including deeds and land surveys, can be found through the county where the property is located, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, which recommends contacting a county clerk’s office for assistance. The Texas Secretary of State’s website has a county clerk directory with contact information.

If you have an address for a property, some county appraisal districts, which assess the taxable value of a property, offer a property search tool on their website that may identify the owner of a property. Use the Texas comptroller’s directory to find a county appraisal district’s website.

However, oftentimes, it may be difficult to detect whether a data center is behind the purchase, because developers or shell companies may be involved in the deals with names that are not obviously connected to data centers.

The Texas Comptroller and the Texas Secretary of State have databases with some public information from required business filings, including for franchise tax accounts. However, the Texas Secretary of State’s database costs $1 per search.

How to find how much electricity a data center will use

Large data center projects need to get approval from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to connect to the state’s power grid.

ERCOT, the state’s power grid operator, considers project-level data private. ERCOT instead shares the information in aggregate to the public, reporting in meeting slides information such as the total amount of power that all large projects have asked to draw from the grid. The agency has also released, to The Tribune and the Houston Chronicle, some county-level data.

As of June, ERCOT reported it had received requests for 466,497 megawatts of power from data centers that want to connect to the grid, which is more than five times larger than the highest amount of power the grid has ever provided. Many projects are looking to connect by 2030.

Energy experts say it’s highly unlikely that all of them will be built as some developers rush to submit requests in hopes of beginning an early-stage project that could eventually be leased to a third party for a profit.

To gauge how likely a proposed data center project is to be built, Shelley of Public Citizen recommended investigating and considering the following:

• who the project’s financial backers are;
• if the developer has a land deal or deed;
• if a developer is leasing the space to another tenant;
• if the developer has agreements with local governments;
• if there are water rights and where the development gets their electricity.

Even if a developer has tenants, there have been cases where tenants drop out of a project, said Margaret Cook, a researcher focusing on the energy and water demands of data centers at the Houston Advanced Research Center.

“And so even that can be a difficult indicator to use,” she said. “But the more reputable that tenant is and the stronger the relationship that they have with that facility, the more likely that that’s a facility that is more likely to be built.”

Some data center projects have voluntarily published their own energy projections in press releases. And others have selectively provided information to local officials in site plans. But it’s completely up to the individual company to decide if it wants to provide data about its power draw.

How to find how much water a data center will use

Water information is scattered across the local utilities, river authorities and groundwater districts where water agreements are negotiated. Obtaining information about a data center’s consumption requires submitting a Texas Public Information Act Request. These requests, however, can be appealed or denied due to privacy concerns and allowable exceptions.

Most data centers are located or planned to be within the boundaries of a public municipal utility or water district, Cook said. And with the exception of the massive “hyperscaler” data centers that are usually driven by AI and are increasingly choosing to develop in unincorporated areas, most data centers generally choose municipal water utilities, Cook added.

Texans can submit records requests to public utilities and districts. But utilities may push back on providing data specific to individual water users due to privacy concerns, Cook said, and requests for broader, aggregate data be more successful. Some public utilities have appealed requests for records about commercial water use to the Texas Attorney General’s office or cited a Texas law intended to protect household water use information to not release more detailed information.

If a data center development is getting water from wells, the local groundwater conservation district managing groundwater use may have information on how much a data center facility is pumping. However, not every part of the state has a groundwater conservation district; creating one requires a political process, and there is not always a political will. The Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts has an interactive map of groundwater districts and with contact information on their website.

Surface water, such as rivers, is generally owned by the state. So if a data center uses river water, a data center would own or lease that water right and deal directly with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Cook said. The TCEQ has some public and downloadable information about active water rights and pending water rights applications. (To view the interactive water rights map, use the browser Google Chrome.)

Other water-related information available from the TCEQ includes:

• Wastewater permitting
• Information about local water suppliers, including water districts and municipal utility districts.

Or learn about local groundwater districts and other possible local water entities by searching an address in our tool below.

The Texas Water Development Board surveys the monthly water use from data centers that use at least 10 million gallons annually. This information can be requested through a public information request.

How to find if a data center is getting tax breaks

Companies building data centers frequently pursue tax breaks from both the state government and cities and counties in hopes of reducing the cost of operating the multimillion-dollar facilities. The tax breaks typically require the companies to promise job creation or a certain value of economic development in exchange for a break on their taxes.

Qualifying data centers are exempted from paying the state’s 6.25% sales taxes on purchases related to building and maintaining the facility — including servers and other data storage hardware, software, office equipment, the cooling system, emergency generators and plumbing. Data centers are also exempted from paying state sales taxes on the cost of electricity.

How much sales tax the state allows an individual project to forgo is not public because of a state law that allows proprietary information to be withheld.

The Texas Comptroller’s office has reported the 147 projects that qualified for some exemption, but many applied through a shell company. See those projects here.

And while local tax abatement agreements are published by the state comptroller, Texas law still allows local governments to deliberate and negotiate tax incentives out of public view.

All local incentive deals are published on the state comptroller’s website. See those agreements here. However, the website does not categorize them, which means Texans will have to know the name of the data center company they’re searching for — which can sometimes be difficult to find because developers and shell companies may instead be listed on the deals. People can also request data about the deals from their local governments.

Large construction projects typically have to register with The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees requirements for accessibility under Texas’ Elimination of Architectural Barriers Act. The department’s database of these registrations has overviews of the projects, which may include information on the project owner, location and estimated costs.

Will to find if a data center will emit air pollution

Online filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state’s environmental regulator, will show up if a permit was issued for a data center facility that is building an on-site power plant or installing backup generators that generate air emissions. But only some preconstruction permit applications require public notice and input before they’re approved.

For example, the TCEQ can issue “permits by rule” for emissions from data centers’ back-up diesel generators, which do not require public participation, according to Public Citizen. Data centers are also seeking “standard permits” for gas-powered plants, which don’t require public input either.

Public Citizen has argued all of a data center’s pollution sources should be considered in one, more stringent preconstruction permit application that would require public input. Otherwise, Federal Operating Permits may be the first chance the public gets to weigh in on data center emissions.

People can search for permit information at the central registry here, pending new source review permit applications here, and pending operating permit applications here.

The nonprofit advocacy organization Air Alliance Houston also has an interactive map of air permit notices.

Other permits from the TCEQ for a data center may include a petroleum storage permit if a facility uses many diesel generators or an industrial and hazardous waste permit if a facility handles lots of fuels, Shelley added. Pending applications for industrial and hazardous permits can be viewed here.

Are there other resources to find information about data centers in Texas?

Reporters at The Texas Tribune acquired and analyzed data from two companies, Data Center Map and Cleanview, that compile and sell data on operating and planned data centers to give readers a clearer picture. View our interactive map here to learn more about the 582 existing and planned data centers we found.

Cook, the water and energy policy expert from the Houston Advanced Research Center, said she uses the website Baxtel to find information on data center locations. The website has some public information about the companies and, in some cases, related news releases. Viewing other information through Baxtel may require paying, she added.

The Houston Advanced Research Center put out a report on data centers’ potential impact on Texas’ water supply.

The environmental groups Public Citizen, Save Our Springs and Environment Texas have a presentation and video with more information on how to track down and provide input on TCEQ permits related to data centers.

The environmental groups Public Citizen, Save Our Springs and Environment Texas have a presentation and video with more information on how to track down and provide input on TCEQ permits related to data centers.

If you need a primer on data centers, the Tribune published an overview of data center development in Texas, how data centers use power and energy and how the state and local communities are responding to the AI-driven development boom.

View The Tribune’s virtual conversation about data center regulation with policy experts here or on YouTube.

Some companies behind data centers, such as Meta, have published broad overviews about their efforts to be more sustainable, create jobs or job training programs or other initiatives. (These types of efforts may also be detailed in community benefits agreements, or contracts, with local governments or community coalitions.) Some, such as Meta in El Paso and data center developer EdgeConneX in Bastrop, have also participated in town halls at the request of local officials.

Paul Cobler contributed to this reporting.

Disclosure: Air Alliance Houston, Environment Texas, Houston Advanced Research Center, Meta, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and Texas Secretary of State have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.