Data Center Information Absent from COSA Stocking

On 12-8-25 I submitted the following public information request (PIR) to the City of San Angelo:

Please provide documents, communications, emails and texts relative to the City of San Angelo's economic development arrangement with Skybox Data Centers or whichever legal entity is developing the data center on former city land within the City Farm area, just outside city limits to the northeast of town. This information could include a projected timeline, the city's plans to annex the land or develop a special arrangement where the city provides services (police, fire, water, etc.) to an entity not within city limits, specific financial or tax incentives, and any other inducements, monetary or in-kind services. The Development Corporation website mentions the project with its statement: "Facilitated data center site development tied to renewable energy access." My request is relative to this specific City of San Angelo effort.

The city's reply was a letter to the Texas Attorney General requesting to withhold the requested information for a number of reasons which include:

1.  Attorney-Client Privilege

2.  Confidentiality of Certain Economic Development Information

3.  Third Party Vendors Implicated in Request 

4.  Information Requested Involves Privacy or Property Interests of a Third Party

5.  Confidentiality of Trade Secrets and Certain Commercial or Financial Information

Vice President of Economic Development for the Chamber of Commerce Michael Looney released a podcast on data center development on 12-15-25.  (One week after my request)

Mayor Tom Thompson spoke with Concho Valley Homepage about data center development on 12-22-25.  (Two weeks after my PIR.)

He said most information about data center development has "been inaccurate."  Yer, the City of San Angelo is steamrolling efforts to get accurate information.  

The City has a requirement for third party vendors to comply with public information law.  It's in their standard contract language.  

Michael Looney said in his recent podcast that private equity is very interested in San Angelo and that our community could be like Austin in the 1980's.  He didn't say that private equity is loathe to share the most basic information, be it the name of the contracting entity, who is involved in the project and standard financial information.  

We'll see what comes before the Development Corporation or City Council regarding data center development, if anything.   Big money behind such projects is very secretive.

Newsflash: City Promotes Gaddy

The City of San Angelo announced a new Economic Development Executive Director.  It is the current Assistant Finance Director Ryan Gaddy.  He replaces Assistant City Manager Michael Dane, who acted as in that role since Guy Andrews surprise retired in August 2022.  Dane will retire from the City on January 2, 2026.

Gaddy's appointment speaks to the current stance of the Development Corporation, creating financial packages for new employers (regardless of how few actual jobs are provided on a long term basis).  Council approved an 85% tax abatement for three years for Peregrine Energy's Project Zeppelin.  The City would receive $351,000 in taxes over years 1-3, while Peregrine gets a $2.4 million tax break.  

The Development Corporation under his leadership "facilitated data center site development tied to renewable energy access."  And none of that has come before City Council to date.  

It's unclear which Texas data centers will have the required power to operate.  CNBC reported:

Cheap land and cheap energy are combining to attract a flood of data center developers to the state. The potential demand is so vast that it will be impossible to meet by the end of the decade, energy experts say.

Quote worth noting from the story: 

“We know it’s not all real. The question is how much is real.”

Hopefully, City Council and Executive Director Gaddy won't give away the store to Skybox or its major customers, AI or otherwise.  One might expect Council to come up with some parameters for such development.  

Surely Skybox needs access to city water, fire and police services.  Providing those for an entity outside city limits is doable.  Pricing that at the margin is asking Skybox to pay the incremental costs for adding that new level of service.  Add massive tax breaks, like Project Zeppelin's, and the city may not achieve that shift from residential dominated tax collections to majority corporate contributed.  

It remains to be seen what subsidies the city plans to provide Skybox.  Michael Dane's retirement letter to the City did not mention future plans and it may just be fishing area streams and lakes.  Or he could be fishing for city subsidies on behalf of an economic development target company or two.

Dane can lever his public service experience on behalf of current or future private sector efforts.  Former Assistant City Manager Elizabeth Grindstaff did just that with her work for Texas Pacifico Railroad and then Texas Central Partners, a developer of a high speed rail project between Houston and Dallas.  Grindstaff is currently a client services leader with engineering firm Freese & Nichols.  

The hiring finally gave the Development Corporation news it can post to its website.  I took the liberty of mocking up such a piece and it's the lead image for this article.  Hopefully, it's an improvement from the prior page (AI generated?).

Another new player is in place.  Stay tuned for future developments on the economic front.  

Update 12-16-25:  San Angelo economic developers told bitcoin miners "no" twice.  They did not say it was the Lancium crew which turned into Stargate's Giant AI facility.  They did so in a podcast which can be viewed below:

Update 12-20-25:  The Real Deal reported:

Bolt Data & Energy announced it raised $150 million in capital and struck a partnership with Texas Pacific Land Corporation, which is investing another $50 million into the venture, according to a joint press release Wednesday. The tie-up positions Bolt Data to develop large-scale data centers on Texas Pacific’s sprawling West Texas holdings, as demand for energy-hungry AI computers accelerates, Bloomberg reported.

Update 12-24-25:  City of San Angelo officials spoke with Concho Valley Homepage regarding possible data centers. 

Dane's Leaving Punctuates Council Meeting

The accolades rolled in from City Council and City Manager Daniel Valenzuela for the retiring Assistant City Manager Michael Dane.  The compliments came after Council returned from Closed/Executive Session.  Daniel noted this was Dane's last City Council meeting.  

Mayor Tom Thompson called Dane "a God send."  Councilman Tommy Hiebert noted Dane's creative financial mind.  

Dane created and stoked multiple pots of money throughout city government.  His going away should have shown city fund balances over the last decade.  Their number and size grew significantly.

One of those unspent pots is $2 million for Animal Shelter renovations, originally approved by Council in February 2023.  Yes, it's nearing three years since staff cited the urgent need for facility improvements/updates.  Fortunately, with professional Shelter management a better plan is underway, one that has a chance of actually happening.

By not spending the borrowing, the City had the opportunity to earn interest on those funds.  In 2025 the city earned so much interest on unspent financing that it owed $1.5 million to the IRS.

Dane leaves the City but plans to remain in San Angelo.  What opportunities might arise for the former interim Economic Development Executive Director, a role he held since September 2022?  

Skybox Data Centers' planned AI facility on the northeast side of town sits on former city land.  Dane has been facilitating that development from the city and development corporation side.  Might he switch and facilitate from the private sector/AI side?  

Who knows, the man may just relax and enjoy his retirement.  Time will tell...

Update 12-13-25:  The new Economic Development Director is the current Assistant Finance Director Ryan Gaddy.  That speaks to the current stance of the Development Corporation, creating financial packages for new employers (regardless of how few actual jobs are provided).

CNBC reported:

Cheap land and cheap energy are combining to attract a flood of data center developers to the state. The potential demand is so vast that it will be impossible to meet by the end of the decade, energy experts say.

Quote worth noting: 

“We know it’s not all real. The question is how much is real.”

Update 12-20-25:  The Real Deal reported:

Bolt Data & Energy announced it raised $150 million in capital and struck a partnership with Texas Pacific Land Corporation, which is investing another $50 million into the venture, according to a joint press release Wednesday. The tie-up positions Bolt Data to develop large-scale data centers on Texas Pacific’s sprawling West Texas holdings, as demand for energy-hungry AI computers accelerates, Bloomberg reported.