Local Tax Abatements for Private Equity Backed Projects

The City of San Angelo officially renewed its tax abatement program at its last meeting.  Tom Green County has been active in that arena as well.  There are three recipients of such abatements, Apex Clean Energy, Peregrine Energy and Doral LLC.  All are owned by private equity underwriters (PEU).

Chamber Vice President Michael Looney informed the San Angelo Development Corporation Board that more private equity projects are interested in coming to the area.  He cited four data centers, the Skybox/Emergent effort in the city and three more in the county, with Beacon being the one identified to date.  

Skybox has been backed by Blue Owl Capital, which has had a difficult run of late as investors have fled its private credit offerings.  

Private equity affiliates pursue projects with the intent of increasing the future sale price of that company.  Their financial structure often is heavily debt funded which can cause a heavy interest burden in times of rising interest rates (as the rate tends to be variable) and difficult economic conditions (potentially with less revenue/higher costs).  

It is not unusual for a PEU affiliate to simply hand over the keys to the organization to lenders.  That is a consideration, as the timing for actual benefit to San Angelo citizens may coincide with the entity's stressed sale or closure. 

Promises of greater local taxes three to five years down the road may or may not materialize.  The State of Texas already ensured sales taxes on the billions ($) in expensive servers will not be paid.  Think about that the next time you have to replace your computer, phone or laptop.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.  The national trend has become local.  It's a sad day to see.  

SA1 Data Center Has Giant Hat, City Provides No Meat

The following public information request was submitted on April 27th.

“Please provide documents relative to the following information from Emergent Data Centers that references the City of San Angelo: Municipal Partnership Built for Speed 

"San Angelo has annexed the site and fast-tracked data center zoning by-right. The city has confirmed water and sewer capacity for full-scale development. This is a city-backed infrastructure project with committed resources."  

The document also states the City of San Angelo is providing "exceptional municipal support." Please provide documents delineating this exceptional municipal support. Thank you.” 

On April 29th city staff asked for clarification:'

This letter is to clarify what information you are seeking from the City of San Angelo. 

PLEASE CLARIFY THE DOCUMENTS YOU ARE REQUESTING.

On May 1st I replied with:

I request documents delineating the "committed resources" to this "city-backed infrastructure project" (Emergent/Skybox Data Center). Also, I request the specific levels of service the city is providing Emergent/Skybox to achieve the "exceptional municipal support" level, As the partnership is "built for speed" I request a projected timeline with key development steps and an anticipated start date. Thank you.

This morning I received:

The City of San Angelo has reviewed its files and has determined there are no responsive documents to your request.

No documents for a "city backed infrastructure project with committed resources."  How can that be?

Citizens Speak on Emergent/Skybox's SAI

 

The above video is cued to begin with citizen comment from the 4-22-26 public meeting on the Skybox/Emergent Data Center project in northeast San Angelo.  

Prior to public comment Mayor Thompson interviewed two gentlemen from Emergent Data Centers, Skybox's developer/sales agent.  The project is marketed as having "exceptional municipal support" and a "municipal partnership built for speed."

As someone who has tried to get information on economic development incentives since December 2025 I'd like to add "secrecy" to "speed."  I submitted that question for the public meeting but leadership chose not to address it in their infomercial.  

I had to leave as public comment was starting as I needed to go home and take care of animals.  I must say residents of San Angelo, Abilene Tom Green and surrounding counties spoke eloquently and passionately.  Bravo.  The video is worth watching.

The meeting deteriorated at the end when San Angelo Live's Joe Hyde chose to insult the crowd.

If that's your champion, I'm not sure you are on the right side.  Hyde ran for Tom Green County Judge against Lane Carter but lost.

Mayor Thompson did not have Hyde escorted out, instead Tom closed with:

"We are finished with public comment. Thank goodness." 

Box checked.  I'm afraid that means it's over.  

Dove Creek's Shawn Nanny (Tom Green County Commissioner) spoke simply and passionately against Beacon Data Centers locating in his community.  San Angelo's Joe Hyde trashed a public meeting with name calling against people doing the same as Nanny.  

It's a stain that taints and that may have been the aim.  End the show with a dookie. 

Note:  There are four data centers under consideration, one in San Angelo and three more in Tom Green County (source:  COSADC board meeting presentation by Michael Looney on 4-8-26).  

Tom Green County is asking for the ability to act on behalf of its citizens in shepherding local resources, water, power, etc..

The initial post had Joe Hyde as a mayoral candidate against Thompson.  That was incorrect and the post updated to show Hyde ran for County Judge but lost.  Had he won he might be shepherding the development of three data centers and not asking the state legislature for the ability to protect citizens from data center harm. 12:10 pm on 4-24-26

Update 5-4-26:  San Angelo City Council will entertain an agenda item on data center zoning in tomorrow's Council meeting.  I expect citizens will want to speak as that is their right.  Hopefully, Joe Hyde will keep his remarks on the positives of data centers and why he is such an advocate.  His trashing of his peers was a sorry display from someone who'd hoped to serve the public.

Emergent Data Center Show at McNease Convention Center

San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson interviewed two executives from Emergent Data Center, CEO Chris Sumter and Chief Technology Officer Mike Coleman, about the proposed Skybox Data Center project in the Northeast portion of town.  This followed a presentation by Planning & Development Director Aaron Vannoy on ordinance changes based on development research from other communities with current and proposed data centers.

The Mayor's structured interview covered the following areas:

• Emergent Executives background
• Why San Angelo
• Water Use
• Noise Mitigation
• Construction
• Operation - jobs created
• Grid - electricity impact
• Community responsibility
• Tax revenue (no specifics given)

The panel discussion had several explicit sales pitches embedded in it as well as promises to solve any problems that arose.  There was no indication that any panel member thought the project itself was problematic for San Angelo and this part of West Texas.  

Not addressed by the panel or the city's planning director:  economic development incentives currently under consideration for the project.  

I submitted that question on April 9th using the online form:

Please provide information about any public subsidies, direct or indirect, that the city is providing or plans to consider to support the development of the Skybox/Emergent Data Center. I submitted a public information request to this effect in December 2025 but have received no response at the City of San Angelo appealed to the Texas Attorney General to keep such information confidential.

It's interesting that city leaders can share research on design parameters from other cities but not on economic development incentives.  Last night's meeting would have been the perfect opportunity for city leaders to share their thinking in this arena.  They expressly have not to date and likely won't until it goes before Council for an up or down vote.  The hint that tax breaks will be included is the five to six year time frame to accrue community financial benefit.

I did learn that Chris Sumter started Emergent after a meeting with a private equity firm, something like Emphoric Capital.  Also, the city may steer its reclaimed water to the project (away from Wall farmers).  Whoever Emergent/Skybox leases the data center to may or may not pay sales taxes on the equipment they place in the facility (currently a State of Texas tax break).  The Mayor said it is not the city's right to demand anything from the company in terms of good community relations.

The city posted documents relative to the meeting/project.  Emergent mentioned "exceptional municipal support" and a "municipal partnership built for speed."

That bodes poorly for those wishing a moratorium on data center construction, requests made at the April 21st City Council meeting (as well as over the last six months).  

On April 8th Chamber Vice President  Michael Looney informed the City of San Angelo Development Corporation board that four data centers are shopping locally, Emergent in city limits and three others outside the city in Tom Green County.  In that same meeting Looney cited the potential to "brand San Angelo as a potential location for other data centers."

I was unable to stay for the public comment portion of the meeting but hope to view the video.  At least I got to hear the commercial.  

Dove Creek Tells Beacon Data Centers to Go Elsewhere

A crowd of several hundred showed up for Beacon Data Centers' public meeting on their proposed Dove Creek Technology Campus project.  Virtually all were in opposition, including Tom Green County Commissioner Shawn Nanny.

Four56 Church hosted the meeting and their pastor shared information about the church and the kind of behavior decent people show one other.  

Beacon's representatives led with their intention of being a good steward.  Mark Attinger of The Attinger Group and Attinger Construction served as the local face for the project.  

Co-founder and Executive Vice President of Origination Joseph Shovlin was the Irish voice of Beacon, an affiliate of Nadia Partners.  

They stated their intent to be involved in the community and fund important infrastructure projects/local organizations.  They also made it clear they wanted to hear community concerns so the project could take those wishes into account early in the design phase.  And then they opened it up for questions.

The first question arose around noise levels.  EVP Shovlin said they were not prepared to discuss specifics at this stage in the project development as they had not even determined the size of the project or where it would be sited on the property, which is a large tract at the corner of Highway 67 South (between San Angelo and Mertzon) and FM Road 2335.

  

At that point attendees got the impression that few actual details would be shared in the major concern areas of noise, traffic, electricity, water, wastewater treatment, impact on property values, local economy, emissions and infrastructure needs.  

And they were mostly correct in that conclusion, however the following notable items were shared:

Water - At this stage they believe their water needs will be met from the existing water rights to several hundred acre feet from Spring Creek, dam reconstruction, mesquite eradication and rainwater harvesting.  They said their are no plans to utilize groundwater.  Surface water means the Concho River Watermaster and TCEQ.  Apparently there are two diversion points, one on each side of the creek of the existing property.

I spoke with Vice President of Corporate Affairs Lauren Armstrong after the meeting and shared the vagaries of surface water dependability in West Texas.  We lose creek flow completely due to upstream irrigation.  The irrigation stops and the creek flows again.  And we are far closer to the headwaters than Beacon's site.  That said, there are springs up and down the creek but many spots are dry for months at a time upstream of the Dove Creek Technology Campus.  She said they would haul in water for their daily needs if needed.

"We are not for sale." 

Power - The Beacon model is 100% natural gas turbine power generation.  They need to tie into a natural gas pipeline and that is part of the project's feasibility assessment.  

"Go away."

Wastewater - There would be a wastewater treatment facility onsite.

"We don't want you."

Traffic - There would be no access to the property down 2335.  The entrance would be just after the railroad tracks and new roads would be built within the property to meet their construction and operating needs.  They floated a reworking of the dangerous curve at 67 & 2335 as a public benefit of the project.

"Please leave us alone." 

Beacon will complete their environmental studies over the next four months (traffic, noise, emissions, water, wastewater) and share the results.  

Meanwhile they will take into account the information shared in the community meeting, all except "go away."  After all they are developers and Texas officials have said the state is open for business.

Update:  ConchoValleyHomepage ran a story on the meeting.

Update 4-18-26:  One Texas water well driller is worried about the impact of data centers.

Dove Creek Next for Data Center?

Concho Valley Homepage reported on the prospect of another data center, this time in Dove Creek.  Beacon Data Centers is considering building a data center in this rural area and will hold a community meeting at a local church.    

The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, at The Four56 Church, located at 13218 Westcross Lane. 

Beacon is backed by Nadia Partners, a Canadian private equity underwriter (PEU).  Nadia has another affiliate, Dromore Energy, that does solar power with battery storage.  

It happens that two projects, Dove Creek Solar and Dove Creek Storage are active projects under ERCOT and both expect a June 2028 completion date.

There is no information indicating these projects are part of the Dromore Energy portfolio, however their existence makes the AI data center more attractive.

Dove Creek has very limited fire/emergency response capabilities relative to those needed by a data center or a battery storage facility, should either catch on fire.  Water is more limited, as well.  

County Commissioner Shawn Nanny plans to attend.  The article quoted Nanny:

“I told them I am getting phone calls left and right, I don’t have any information to give them,” Nanny said. “I told them ya’ll have got to have one meeting immediately followed up by several meetings, but the ball is in their court. I am not conducting this meeting; the only say-so I had was please have a meeting so the people can hear about you.”

Citizens need to hear from County officials as well regarding public infrastructure needed to support such data centers.  That includes County Judge Lane Carter, Commissioner Nanny and County Emergency Response leadership.  

Dove Creek residents should not be managing all aspects of data center development alone.  Elected officials cannot abdicate their responsibility to balance data center desires with community needs and priorities.  One key priority is affordable water and electricity.  At a minimum, Tom Green County officials should be there to speak to that.

Update 4-15-26:   The land is between two surface water sources for the City of San Angelo, Dove Creek and Spring Creek.  

The State of Texas allows landowners to drill wells and potentially take as much as they want.  

In Texas, corporations have significant rights to pump groundwater under the "Rule of Capture," allowing unlimited use for beneficial purposes unless limited by local Groundwater Conservation Districts (GCDs).

It remains to be seen if the Dove Creek location falls within an existing Groundwater Conservation District.   

The site is either just inside the Lipan-Kickapoo WCD or just outside it.

Update 4-16-26:  The community of Dove Creek expressed their near universal opposition to the Beacon AI data center.  County Commissioner Shawn Nanny closed public feedback by joining his constituents in opposing the project.  

Kerr County Disaster Coordinator Retires March 31st

Houston Public Media reported:

Kerr County’s emergency coordinator, Will Thomas, said he was ill and asleep as floodwaters began to rise and didn’t participate in early response calls on July 3. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha also said he was asleep as the river rose, while Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who oversees emergency management, said he was out of town.

And no first responder went to their home and knocked on the door?

William "Dub" Thomas is retiring effective March 31, 2026.   County Judge Rob Kelly, also retiring, said they would miss Dub and that Dub cannot be replaced.  I would say as Emergency Management Coordinator Dub was critical to the "asleep, asleep, out of town" leadership approach to the County's flood disaster response on July 4, 2025.

The first disaster was the abject failure to respond, to set up a command post and coordinate efforts in a timely manner.  The second was a failure of communication regarding actions not taken and not holding responsible people accountable.  The third was a failure to drill for flash flooding under Dub's tenure (as the County could produce no documents of such).

The County and Dub are yet to release their "after action" report on the July 4th flood disaster.  Conducting such evaluations are a basic in the emergency response arena.   It could happen in the next four days, but I doubt it.  This transitioned to an accountability avoidance/liability minimization exercise long ago.  

These are the words that welcomed Dub to his role with Kerr County in 2015:

This is very important, the position that Dub has as Emergency Management Coordinator. The City has an Emergency Management Coordinator; now the County has an Emergency Management Coordinator. These are the guys that are literally in charge if there's an emergency, a major fire,  major flood or whatever. And as the Sheriff pointed out the other day, the document is this thing, so Dub helped to  prepare that. So, I think this county, with Dub in place, and with the city there, it's taken us a year to redo this thing, but I think this county is going to have the best emergency management plan probably in the state. So, welcome, Dub.

Those words did not hold up so well.  All hat (plan), no cattle (implementation-flood drill or actual response). 

Update 3-30-26:  Hill Country Community Journal reported:

Thomas was authorized to purchase his county service weapon, a Glock 45, for $100 under a state law permitting such sales to honorably retired law enforcement officers.

Update 4-15-26:  A director of Camp Mystic testified that he:

"had not seen the official weather warnings before the storm, did not convene a staff meeting about the potential flooding and acknowledged that the camp did not have a detailed, written flood evacuation plan."

The cascade of ignorance and lack of preparation was widespread in Kerr County. 

Update 4-16-26:  The Texas Rangers have joined the case regarding camper deaths at Camp Mystic.  So far, local emergency officials inability to do their job has been overlooked by investigators.  Kerr County is yet to release an after action report on their disaster "response" on July 4, 2025.

Update 4-20-26:  Texas Tribune reported Camp Mystic's security guard testified as to events that evening/early morning:

The security guard at Camp Mystic the night of last year’s deadly flood acknowledged Wednesday that if a general evacuation order came early in the storm, lives could’ve been saved.

Update 4-22-26:  KXAN reported: 

According to the House’s resolution, the committee would be tasked with investigating contributing factors, allocation of resources, effectiveness of preparedness and effectiveness of response and coordination between local, state and federal entities. The Senate’s resolution called for a broader “complete and thorough examination of the facts and circumstances surrounding the flooding events.”

So how did this broad mandate get reduced to summer camps?   It appears there may never be an assessment of Kerr County emergency official's response (non-response) to the disaster. 

SA1 Data Center Has Layers

Chamber Executive Michael Looney informed the Development Corporation that the data center project needed work locally (on the 380 economic development agreement) and at the state level (approval for the plan to provide power/electricity for the project).  

Looney also talked about the recent Economic Summit, which had a panel on the data center project.  Mayor Tom Thompson moderated the panel with three representatives from Emergent Data Centers. 

Looney did not mention the data center at all in the Economic Summit section of his report.  

Emergent is actively marketing the San Angelo data center project to potential users.

Their documentation cites major solar generation projects in the area and the opportunity to contract directly for that power.  Meta is buying the power produced by Apex Clean Energy's solar farm in Tom Green County.  Apex is backed by Ares Management.

Looney also informed the Development Corporation that Peregrine Energy's battery farm would begin construction in Q4 2027.  Council gave that project an 85% tax abatement for three years.  Peregrine is backed by KKR.

Doral Renewables is behind another solar farm in the area.  Doral is backed by Apollo.

Skybox projects in other areas have been funded by BlueOwl, which has had a rough go of late.  Looney has frequently cited private equity (Ares, KKR, Apollo, Blueowl) as being very interested in our area.  There is currently a private equity funded spec building project in the Industrial Park.  

City Council took up leasing the land for the proposed Skybox/Emergent data center for $1 million per year beginning November 1, 2026.  The City already has a letter of agreement with Skybox for the possible sale of the land.  The State of Texas needs more than a letter of agreement to provide power via ERCOT and AEP, thus the lease.  

All lease proceeds will go towards the purchase price.  

Emergent's CEO offered the following during the Chamber's Economic Summit:

"It's the Skybox project and Emergent is the developer."

"We're looking for a home to build a campus for one of the Big Five (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google) .... one will lease the building from us.... We will be building for the next seven years."

As for the specific usage and the servers purchased, that will be determined by the eventual occupant.  

The public should know that there are three potential recipients of subsidies and tax breaks, Skybox, Emergent and the final occupant.  The 380 agreement is under negotiation between the City and Skybox.  

Once Emergent is successful in landing one of the Big Five, that company may request subsidies and/or tax breaks as their investment will be magnitudes greater than the buildings themselves. 

This data center project has layers.  Critical elements remain that need to be addressed for it to move forward.   

A Texas State Senator (Red Team) called for an immediate pause in data center development.  Issues cited include water, power and transparency.  The Senator called for the pause so "rural areas can evaluate effects on critical resources and infrastructure."

Update:  An Ohio Senator (Red Team) called out The Carlyle Group, another PEU, for accepting a  "$4.5 million state tax break for a data center expansion project in Northeast Ohio. Despite Carlyle’s investment, the project will only create ten new jobs."

Update 3-21-26:  ConchoValleyHomepage did a story on City Council's approval of the land lease to our possible data center.  

Update 4-8-26:  Add Nadia Partners and its affiliate Beacon AI Centers to the list of private equity underwriter (PEU) projects.  Beacon will be meeting with Dove Creek residents about a possible project.  

Water is a much greater issue for a rural area which does not have access to numerous water sources (like the City of San Angelo).  Nadia has another affiliate that develops solar power and battery storage, Dromore Energy.

Update 4-16-26:  Beacon AI public meeting is scheduled for this evening at the Four56 Church in Dove Creek.  The Skybox/Emergent data center public meeting is scheduled for 4-22 at 5:00 pm at the McNease Convention Center.  

Skybox Backing Out of Land Purchase?

Skybox Data Centers may not buy that 350 acres northeast of town for $17.4 million after all.  City Council has a possible lease of the land to San Angelo Data Center Campus Power LLC on its closed agenda for their March 17 meeting.

One year ago this same City Council approved a letter of intent to sell the land to Skybox Data Centers for $50,000 per acre.  This has not happened.  

Data center financing has become more problematic given the obscene sums of money required.  BlueOwl, a funder of other Skybox projects, has had a difficult run this year.  That means less capital for projects.  Asking the city to avoid the $17.4 million land sale and provide a reasonable lease amount could save big money on the project.  It also takes away a financial plum for pursuing the project.

Mayor Tom Thompson has said that people need to wait for the 380 (economic development) agreement, which many assumed would be after or in conjunction with the land sale.  

The big money behind these projects, solar/battery, data centers, often want to get out within 5-7 years with a handsome profit.  If the city keeps and leases the land, in ten years it may have a giant eyesore for which it is responsible.  Time will tell, unless there is a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).  An NDA could keep all but a few people in the dark forever.  

Update:  Chamber Executive Michael Looney spoke at the Development Corporation and shared that the 380 economic development agreement with Skybox needs a lot more work and that the state needs to respond to the project's power request/proposal.  Apparently, things are on track and a property lease enables progress to be made while those two fronts, the 380 and state power approval via ERCOT and AEP.

Skybox is the owner of the project and Emergent Data Centers is the developer.  Members of the Emergent Team were interviewed by the Mayor at the Economic Development Summit put on by the Chamber.

Gas Price Up $1 per Gallon

Sam's Club Gas price:

Feb. 27 - $2.33 per gallon

Day 1 of attack on Iran by U.S. and its 51st state Israel:

Feb. 28 - $2.59

Afterward:

March 4 - $2.93

March 9 - $3.13

March 11 - $3.33 per gallon

As of this morning San Angelo has experienced a $1.00 per gallon rise which is a 43% increase.  That happened in less than two weeks.  

Update 3-14-26:  The President flip flopped on his gas price stance.  What once was bad is now good....

Update 3-19-26:  Sam's Club gas price as of this morning is $3.70 per gallon.  The administration said gas prices should return to normal in a few more weeks.

Update 4-13-26:  Several days ago I drove past Sam's Club and the sign showed $4.01 per gallon.

Update 5-6-26:  I filled up at Sam's Club this morning for $3.91 per gallon.

Skybox Website Shows Wichita Falls PowerCampus

Skybox has a video of its Wichita Falls "PowerCampus Texas" project on its website.  The project is in conjunction with Blue Owl, which recently stopped early redemptions at one fund in response to investor requests

The design of the Wichita Falls PowerCampus accommodates AI and machine learning.

Skybox is "committed to being a transparent and collaborative partner."  They have a lot of work to do in that arena if they actually come to San Angelo.

Update 3-8-26:  San Marcos voted against zoning for a data center for the second time.  The item can come before their city council again in six months.  

San Angelo City Council could not get Skybox to make a presentation at their evening meeting on February 17th when the company was in town for a Chamber of Commerce event.

The news keeps getting worse for Blue Owl, the potential lender for San Angelo's data center.

Waiting on the 380 with Skybox

San Angelo City Council directed staff in regard to conditional use zoning standards for data centers.  Numerous citizens spoke during public comment with many encouraging Council to utilize a formal development process like Round Rock, Texas.  

Skybox presented earlier today at a Chamber of Commerce event (with paid registration) but did not appear at City Council (which citizens may attend at no charge).  

Mayor Tom Thompson closed the data center agenda item with "the rules are the rules and we set forward with that with the 380."  The 380 is an economic development agreement.  

I submitted a public information request for economic development documents on December 8, 2025.  

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 in the northeast portion of town. 

This information could include a projected timeline, 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 petitioned the Attorney General to keep all relevant documents confidential and away from public view.  

Only the City knows how comprehensive their Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is with Skybox.  Rest assured, Skybox has employed the best lawyers to keep their information, even the most basic, private.  

After Tom Thompson referenced the 380 which is under tight lock and key, it felt like Council had picked out the attire and hair style for the person (Skybox) who might rob you later (higher electricity and water bills).   

Public subsidies are yet to be explored by this council.  I don't see how they can give Skybox tax breaks (or more) without sharing something.  

Update 2-19-26:  When asked about what information cannot be shared per any signed Non Disclosure Agreement and who from the city had signed such a NDA with Skybox the city replied:

The City of San Angelo has reviewed its files and has determined there are no responsive documents to your request.

And this applies to contracted entities as well?  Here is the specific language of my request:

Please share documents which indicate the scope of information to be kept confidential under the City of San Angelo's non-disclosure agreement with Skybox Data Centers. Also, please share the names of City officials, employed and elected who have signed the NDA with Skybox. I am not asking for the agreement itself, only who signed it on behalf of the city and what information areas are to be kept confidential. 

Should former Assistant City Manager and Interim Economic Development Director Michael Dane have a role in this project for either side, please share his specific role.

Update 3-16-26:  BlueOwl has financed a number of Skybox's data centers.  BlueOwl has been having a rougher time of late.  This may or may not impact financing for the San Angelo project.  

Update 4-28-26:  The City of San Angelo informed local media that no members of City Council have signed non-disclosure agreements relative to the proposed data center.  Mayor Thompson has acted as if there is confidential information he is not allowed to share by using words like "I think I can say this"  or "this number is already out there."  We will see if this holds in the future should the parties sign an actual agreement.

Data Center Sound Requirements Have Giant Loophole

San Angelo City Council will entertain design recommendations for data centers in this evening's meeting.  Council members are likely attending the presentation by SkyBox Data Centers at a Chamber of Commerce event today.  

The U.S. Department of Energy recently enacted such an emergency for backup power generators: 

Currently, there are tens of gigawatts of readily available backup generation that have remained largely untapped until now. Deployment of backup generation resources (whether auxiliary, standby, directly-connected, battery storage or other, and whether synchronized or not to the bulk power system) at data centers (including but not limited to hyperscaler facilities), and at other large load industrial and commercial customer sites, can prevent avoidable blackouts, thereby saving lives and reducing costs to the American people. The employment of this backup generation is expected to reduce stress on the grid. 

This will permit orderly, safe, and secure operations during Winter Storm Fern. Consistent with my letter issued on January 22, 2026, ERCOT requested today that DOE issue an order pursuant to FPA section 202(c) to allow the deployment of backup generation during emergency conditions.

By overtaxing the Texas energy grid, data centers can fire up their generators and sell power back through ERCOT.  

Abilene's giant AI facility started as a Bitcoin mining energy arbitrage play on stranded cheap renewable power.  It happened to be in the right place at the right time to get scooped up into Trump II's White House AI initiative "Stargate."   

Anyone care to hear what 160 emergency generators sound like when they are all fired up?  Anyone else want to be downwind of their emissions?  

We used to smell the rendering plant when the wind blew from the northeast.  What will an energy emergency smell like in San Angelo's future?

TechGods bring a different kind of rendering which includes massive amounts of garbage from the internet.  I expect this next round to be no different than their contributions to date.

Update 3-21-26:  The public should be aware of TechGod's impact on our country's youth:

Heavy social media use contributes to a stark decline in well-being among young people, with the effects particularly worrying in teenage girls in English-speaking countries and Western Europe

And this we wish to export to other parts of the globe.

Kerr County Emergency Officials Confused on July 4th

Text messages revealed how long emergency response was delayed in the deadly Kerr County July 4th flash flood.  Officials paid to respond to disasters were difficult to reach or not available when needed.

Kerr County is yet to release an after action report on their response to the flash flood.  County Commissioners raised the need to do one back in August 2025.  

The County has a plan to respond to flood disasters.  How did that plan work on July 4th?  It's long past time for the public to be informed of official actions vs. those specified in the disaster plan.  Not doing an evaluation would be yet another abdication of responsibility.  

The banquet of non-consequences continues.  Competent leadership must be a thing of the past.

Update 4-15-26:  A director of Camp Mystic testified that he:

"had not seen the official weather warnings before the storm, did not convene a staff meeting about the potential flooding and acknowledged that the camp did not have a detailed, written flood evacuation plan."

The cascade of ignorance and lack of preparation was widespread in Kerr County.

Update 4-20-26:  Texas Tribune reported Camp Mystic's security guard testified as to events that evening/early morning:

The security guard at Camp Mystic the night of last year’s deadly flood acknowledged Wednesday that if a general evacuation order came early in the storm, lives could’ve been saved.

Update 4-22-26:  KXAN reported: 

According to the House’s resolution, the committee would be tasked with investigating contributing factors, allocation of resources, effectiveness of preparedness and effectiveness of response and coordination between local, state and federal entities. The Senate’s resolution called for a broader “complete and thorough examination of the facts and circumstances surrounding the flooding events.”

So how did this broad mandate get reduced to summer camps?   It appears there may never be an assessment of Kerr County emergency official's response (non-response) to the disaster. 

Citizens Have to Pony Up to Learn about Skybox

The City of San Angelo discussed Skybox Data Centers in closed/executive session today.  Mayor Pro Tem Tommy Hiebert stated "there are no announcements coming out of executive session."  

Public comment at the beginning of the meeting included several citizens who encouraged the city to fulfill its public information obligation and provide documents relative to the project that the city is not asking be exempt from public disclosure, a process involving the Texas Attorney General's office.  

I submitted a Public Information Request on Skybox on December 8, 2025.  As of today, the city has provided no documents other than the Attorney General letter requesting exemption.  

Citizens have been told that Skybox officials will make a presentation on the project.  It will occur within a Chamber of Commerce event on February 17th.  Ticket prices are $49 for Chamber members, $59 for non-members and $500 for a table of eight.  

City leaders have shared what Skybox has allowed them to share.  It is strange to hear Mayor Tom Thompson refer to numbers he has heard as being out in the public.  Apparently, he cannot stray and reveal numbers that are not yet out there in response to citizen questions and concerns.  

The City added a presentation from Skybox to its Data Center webpage.  One slide shows:

The company's attempt to debunk data center secrecy may need to involve more than a Chamber of Commerce event requiring payment to hear the presentation.  

City leaders should make it clear the information citizens deserve on this project and present such information themselves.  That has not yet happened.  

City Council will meet on February 17th but not at its usual time of 8:30 am.  The meeting will begin at 5:30 pm,  Look for Skybox to be on the agenda since their leadership will be in town.

In our non-disclosure agreement (NDA) world it's the business' right to share whatever information they desire with the public.  Government officials give up that obligation as part of the economic development recruiting courtship where giant incentives are often offered.

SkyBox on Council's Agenda for Closed Session

San Angelo City Council will meet Tuesday, February 3rd at 8:30 am and tackle legal issues relative to the economic development arrangement with SkyBox Data Centers.  The public will not hear Council's deliberations and the City has been unwilling to share public information on aspects of any deal.

I submitted a public information request (PIR) in December and the city appealed to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for approval to not share certain and possibly any information regarding incentives and subsidies.  At the time of submission I did not realize the city annexed the land the same day it approved the letter of intent to sell the land to SkyBox.  That was March 4, 2025.  

My PIR request is below:

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.

City leaders, both elected and employed, have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDA) regarding this project.  That is why  you will hear Mayor Thompson say things like "I've heard this number ($ investment, # of gallons of water use, number of cars using street after construction is completed)."  The Mayor can share information that is already in the public sphere that approximates this particular SkyBox project.  He has to keep the actual specifics confidential per the NDA.

Normally, an elected official would come up with critical information items that need to be shared with the public and ensure that occurs as part of the business recruitment process.  Not anymore.  Companies consider the most basic information to be confidential and require officials to sign NDAs.

City Council members have a fiduciary duty when approving a new economic development incentive.  What happens when some Council members have access to more detailed information, financial and otherwise, on the project?  Can the lesser informed Council members fulfill their fiduciary duties?

Recently,  the City of San Angelo Development Corporation (COSADC) approved an economic development agreement with True Lighting Protection LLC.   San Angelo's Chamber of Commerce produces the economic development impact analysis as part of their contract with the Development Corporation.  

COSADC board member Travis Stribling asked for detail regarding the projections relative to that agreement.  Rather than provide more detail or reveal projection assumptions, city staff restated the information on the slide.  In the past more detailed economic development analysis have been included in board packets and presented in the meeting. 

I requested a copy of that analysis for True Lightning Protection via a PIR and received what staff did not share with the board and a member who sought such information.  What I received was totally appropriate for a board providing project funding.

It remains to be seen what is shared after the closed session on Tuesday, if anything.  It is more common for no report to be given to the public after council meets in executive session.

Update 2-3-26:  Mayor Pro Tem Tommy Hiebert stated there was nothing to report after Executive Session in today's City Council meeting.  Many people gave public comment at the beginning of the meeting with several encouraging city leaders to share information with the public on Skybox.  Speakers referenced the city's legal responsibilities under Texas Public Information law.

Council Rezones Land for Light Manufacturing (Skybox Data Center)

San Angelo City Council rezoned a recently annexed area in the Northeast side of town for light manufacturing to accommodate a proposed Skybox Data Center project.  Council heard from a large number of citizens in public comment prior to the Consent Agenda and during the rezoning item itself.  

An article on the U.S. manufacturing boom promised by the White House stated:  

When manufacturers build new plants, they also need housing for workers, warehousing for parts, and access to roads, ports, and rail. That drives up the value of surrounding land and rental housing — especially in overlooked areas just outside major metros. Real estate investors often move early in these cycles, buying up properties near confirmed development zones and holding for appreciation.

Abilene just approved a 1,000 space RV park to accommodate temporary workers building their gargantuan Lancium Project.  It started as a squirrelly Bitcoin mining operation that would run an energy arbitrage, but morphed into Trump's giant AI project and renamed Stargate in conjunction with Sam Altman's OpenAI.

Most of the people who commented at Tuesday's Council meeting know what is coming.  Many opposed it, while a number of people supported the Skybox project.  Citizens know our electrical bills will go up no matter where in Texas these data centers go.  They know construction will involve lots of imported workers, higher truck traffic and put pressure on housing and hotels.  It happened during the shale boom and will return with Skybox.  

Council is yet to ask what happens if this thing busts in fiver years.  Are they prepared to take the keys to the building if owners and lenders walk away?  

Cooling in West Texas is a significant challenge in any summer, but 2024 levels of summer heat make that far more expensive, assuming that much power is actually available.  

Citizens want to know if power will remain affordable and actually be there when needed.  That concern grows when Vice President of Economic Development Michael Looney stated two other data centers are currently looking at Tom Green County.  

Prior to Council's 6-1 vote approving the zoning change, Mayor Thompson complimented public comment.  A number of issues were raised that the Mayor said could be addressed via a 380 economic development agreement which provides restrictions in order to receive those benefits.  

Actually, a number of issues raised require Skybox to share information that likely sits under a current non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the city and city leaders, including the Mayor.  

Mayor Thompson said during the zoning item regarding the economic value of the proposed data center:

"I've heard lots of different numbers brought up."

Later he said:

"A lot of questions were answered.  There's a lot of questions that still are yet to be answered.  There's a lot of information out there.  A lot of it is correct.  More of it's incorrect.  But a lot of things are opinion."

Time and actions will reveal how open Skybox and the City are in regard to answering citizen questions and concerns.  That is the Mayor's job, NDA or not. 

It's Data Center Season in Texas

San Angelo Live's Joe Hyde interviewed San Angelo Mayor Tom Thompson regarding water and the proposed Skybox Data Center for the new northeast portion of town.  Negotiations with SkyBox have been ongoing with City Council approving a letter of intent for the land sale in March 2025.

The pair talked numbers, $ of investment (which ranged from $7 to $27 billion) and city tax proceeds (roughly $50 million on the lesser $7 billion valuation).  

Jobs came up in the discussion of impact on the area once the project is complete.  Thompson threw out the number as 40 employees and said "you aren't bringing in a lot of people."  The Development Corporation was created to create or retain primary jobs. 

Thompson's verbal description of the tax rate had two more zeroes than the stated amount and he quoted last year's rate, not the rate for 2025-26, which is .7947.

Next, they discussed the benefit of that new tax revenue: 

Former City Engineer Clinton Bailey addressed City Council on this failure before he moved on the Fredericksburg. Texas.

Clinton Bailey spoke to City Council on February 26, 2013 about his recommendation to create a comprehensive street maintenance program for the City of San Angelo. He did so by describing the life cycle of a street and the City's abysmal performance in maintaining streets.

Thompson said the City had finished its street maintenance program.  The City borrowed money for street maintenance and those borrowing/interest costs go into the tax rate. 

They closed with the prospect that Skybox might not be the only new data center in town.  Thompson's new city revenue shifted from $50 million to a range, $30 to $50 million.  

The Mayor did not detail how the data center's coming "saves" hundreds of millions of dollars over seven, eight, nine, ten years."  That may be revealed or it may not.

As Thompson said and Joe Hyde punctuated, the Mayor has nothing to hide.  

Update:  FoxWestTexas reported that data centers are choosing rural communities for low costs and provide few high tech jobs.  The study said:

We see little evidence to suggest cloud providers will spread their data centers to any but a small number of low-density locations. Our findings support speculation about the likely direction of changes as demand shifts to the cloud, and the location decisions begin to concentrate in the hands of cloud providers.

Update 1-11-26:  WaPo did a story on political opposition to giant data centers within small towns in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and  Arizona   Issues are rising electricity cost, water usage and heavy industrial usage in what was once farmland.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned data center developers that they are losing control of the narrative. “In rural America right now, where data centers are being built, everyone’s already angry because their electricity prices have risen a lot,” he told energy executives.

Council Agenda: Economic Incentive for True Lightning Protection LLC

San Angelo City Council will consider a $300,000 economic development incentive package for True Lightning Protection, LLC in their January 13th meeting.  

The Development Corporation approved the package in their December 10, 2025 meeting.  Board member Travis Stribling asked about the economic development analysis referenced by Project Manager Bob Schneeman.  Staff responded but remained at a high level, avoiding specific assumptions and greater detail on the analysis.

Council's background packet on the matter is consistent with staff slides in the Development Corporation meeting.

• Manufacture and install lightning & static mitigation solutions 
• Currently operating as Heare Services -manufacture some individual components 
• Capital Investment - $851,000 
• Create 8 full time positions at an average $ 58,750 annually 
• Incentive - $300,000 for Capital Investment & Job Creation 
• 10 Year Economic Impact - $15M 
• Return on Investment (ROI) – 5.2 years / 19.3%

City staff has provided greater detail in the past regarding incentive components (assumptions and breakdown), the various ways the city should benefit (economic impact) and the specific monetary returns on that incentive investment.  It usually includes some type of clawback provision for nonperformance.

Consider these slides from the city's economic development agreement with MedHab (2012).  The first is the offer:

The second is the calculation of return on investment (ROI):

More detailed True Lightning Protection, LLC information was not made available to the Development Corporation board, which has a fiduciary responsibility in approving and overseeing incentive deals.  

Less information to Council and the public has been the trend for many years.  New economic development projects have investors with specific hurdle (return) rates and they consider the most basic information to be a trade secret.  

Some might say it's just a local firm adding a new product line.  That is true.  But it also the economic development predecessor to Skybox Data Centers.  

Council will approve a zone change for an area that includes Skybox designated land in Tuesday's meeting.  It already approved the land sale and annexed the property in March 2025.  Annexation documents commit to providing specific city services.  Council approved the creation of a new development plan for that section of the city in November 2025.  

Any fiduciary body should know what happens with the deal if the recipient fails to live up to their promises be it MedHab, True Lightning Protection or Skybox Data Centers.  It's good planning.

Update 1-18-26:  A Public Information Request produced the economic development analysis for the True Lightning Protection Project.   

Populating Texas Desert with Data Centers

Anslem Research wrote regarding massive data centers being developed:

Either the gods are being built in the Texas desert, or the greatest financial delusion in human history is unfolding in real time while sophisticated observers debate quarterly earnings.

One of those desert data centers appears to be coming to San Angelo (on land just northeast of town).  City leaders and elected officials attended a recent community meeting on the Skybox Data Center project.  Three local sources wrote articles about the meeting, Concho Valley Homepage, Concho Observer and San Angelo Live.

Skybox is yet to purchase the land according to one story.  Significant work has been done on this project by city staff and economic development professionals. 

Assistant City Manager Michael Dane said he would not be surprised if the deadline to close (the land sale) under the agreement with Skybox does not have to be extended.

Dane's last day of employment with the city is but a day away, January 2, 2026.   

The City hired Westwood to create a Northeast Sector Plan, total price $252,000.  That proposal includes:

Based upon concept plan options, Westwood will document potential development paths needed to be performed with the jurisdiction(s) in order facilitate the concept plan. This may include annexation, zoning, MTP amendments, and other requests as defined by the jurisdiction(s).

The City annexed the property the same day Council approved the letter of intent for the land sale.  (Two local news stories showed other annexation time frames, "Summer 2025" and "recently."  This post originally ran with Summer 2025 in text as well as the above graphic.  These were corrected after I submitted a public information request on the annexation date.  The item was included in the consent agenda for 3-4-25 with no discussion of the item.)  

The move from Ranch & Estate zoning to Light Manufacturing is also part of the economic development conditions/slow-rolling package for Skybox.  A data center site with at least 144 diesel generators does not sound like light manufacturing to me.

Skybox and the city are in the due diligence phase and a tax abatement request or agreement is yet to be shared.  Concho Observer reported.

No tax breaks will be issued to the Skybox project, and the city is excited to potentially double its tax base, as Looney claims. 

According to previous reports, the center would add around $7 billion of value to the City’s property tax roll. To put that into perspective, the current value in the entire city is around $7.9 Billion according to City Finance Director Tina Dierschke.

The City of San Angelo provided significant tax breaks to a private equity sponsored battery farm not far from the Skybox location.  In time I expect a similar request for this project.

TechGods are weighing in directly and indirectly on the project.  Concho Observer quoted an expert from a think tank (Foundation for American Innovation) regarding Skybox's plans. It's hard to believe anyone can assess the situation given what little information has been released to date. Also, the think tank's board is loaded with people from vested TechGod interests, Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), Patreon, & Paladin Capital.

Part of Skybox's due diligence is to get a clear financial picture of the project's viability.  That includes an estimate of its local tax liability.  Rest assured those discussions are underway and economic development staff are aware of the tax rate that would stifle development.

Skybox is not planning to be part of the greatest financial delusion in human history.  That means subsidies from multiple sources, including the city.  This will be a slow drip for the public to get the whole picture.  

Update 1-4-26:  People are skeptical of the promise of giant data centers in their communities.  

Update 1-5-26:  The City of San Angelo annexed the land it agreed to sell to Skybox Data Centers on 3-4-25, the same day Council approved the land sale.  This information came from a public information request.

Update 1-10-26:  San Angelo Live interviewed Mayor Thompson regarding the proposed data center.  DataCenteryDynamics picked up the story regarding San Angelo's possible deal with Skybox.

Update 3-17-26: Chamber executive Michael Looney informed the Development Corporation board that Project Zeppelin's construction has been pushed out to Q4 2027. He also said the 380 with Skybox Data Centers needs a lot of work and for some issues to be resolved at the state level.