Council Member Patrick Keely will hold a Data Center Development Community Meeting on Monday, December 29, 2025 from 5:30-6:30 pm at the Downtown Library in the Brooks & Bates Room. The subject is the proposed Skybox Data Center on Highway 67 just north of city limits. Council approved the sale of 350 acres of city owned land to Skybox in March 2025.
Issues are noise pollution, water use, appropriate zoning, need for city services while residing outside city limits, traffic safety and electrical power use for the proposed 1.5 million square foot development distributed across six buildings (each of which is four stories high).
A flyer for this public meeting states the item will be voted on at Council's next meeting on January 13, 2026.
Mayor Tom Thompson has been circumspect in his communications regarding the proposed data center, calling local information inaccurate without providing any meaningful information on the project or parameters Council plans to use to balance citizen needs with data center desires.
The City has chosen thus far to prioritize Skybox's need for privacy regarding proprietary information and trade secret claims over sharing information with the public (based on City's response to my 12-8-25 public information request).
Developers are usually not the end user of any project. West Texas has been through a number of boom and bust cycles. When projects go underwater, the owner hands the keys over to the bankers (the entity that provided the financing). One giant financial juggernaut already compared data centers to shale.
Enough communities have been through the data center development process for San Angelo's City Council to use an open, up front process where citizens' needs are clearly prioritized. A Chamber video and an interview with the Mayor discounting social media information do not meet that standard.
Council may rise to the occasion on January 13, 2026 but citizens should be prepared to nudge them if they don't. Attending Councilman Keely's community meeting on the topic tomorrow night is a great start for those who can attend.
Skybox Datacenters is a joint venture between Rugen Street Capital and Bandera Ventures.
Concho Observerreported on an expert's assessment of Skybox's plans. It's hard to believe anyone can assess the situation given what little information has been released to date. The expert is from a think tank whose board is loaded with people from vested TechGod interests, Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), Patreon, & Paladin Capital. The positive "lack of abatement ask" is simply due to the project's location being outside city limits.
ConchoValleyHomepage ran a story on the community meeting. It indicates Skybox is yet to purchase the land for any data center development.
Note: This is also posted on PEUReport, my private equity oriented blog. The two are overlapping more and more.
Update 12-30-25: Concho Valley Homepage reported on the meeting.Concho Observer also ran a piece on the meeting.
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 withConcho 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.
Update 12-29-25:
Council Member Patrick Keely will hold a Data Center Development Community Meeting on Monday, December 29, 2025 from 5:30-6:30 pm at the Downtown Library in the Brooks & Bates Room. The subject is the proposed Skybox Data Center on Highway 67 just north of city limits. Council approved the sale of 350 acres of city owned land to Skybox in March 2025.
Issues are noise pollution, water use, appropriate zoning, need for city services while residing outside city limits, traffic safety and electrical power use for the proposed 1.5 million square foot development distributed across six buildings (each of which is four stories high).
A flyer for this public meeting states the item will be voted on at Council's next meeting on January 13, 2026.
ConchoValleyHomepage ran a story on the community meeting. It indicates Skybox is yet to purchase the land for any data center development.
Update 12-30-25: Concho Valley Homepage reported on the meeting.Concho Observer also ran a piece on the meeting.
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:
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 withConcho Valley Homepage regarding possible data centers.
Update 12-29-25:
Council Member Patrick Keely will hold a Data Center Development Community Meeting on Monday, December 29, 2025 from 5:30-6:30 pm at the Downtown Library in the Brooks & Bates Room. The subject is the proposed Skybox Data Center on Highway 67 just north of city limits. Council approved the sale of 350 acres of city owned land to Skybox in March 2025.
Issues are noise pollution, water use, appropriate zoning, need for city services while residing outside city limits, traffic safety and electrical power use for the proposed 1.5 million square foot development distributed across six buildings (each of which is four stories high).
A flyer for this public meeting states the item will be voted on at Council's next meeting on January 13, 2026.
ConchoValleyHomepage ran a story on the community meeting. It indicates Skybox is yet to purchase the land for any data center development.
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).
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.”
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 12-29-25:
Council Member Patrick Keely will hold a Data Center Development Community Meeting on Monday, December 29, 2025 from 5:30-6:30 pm at the Downtown Library in the Brooks & Bates Room. The subject is the proposed Skybox Data Center on Highway 67 just north of city limits. Council approved the sale of 350 acres of city owned land to Skybox in March 2025.
Issues are noise pollution, water use, appropriate zoning, need for city services while residing outside city limits, traffic safety and electrical power use for the proposed 1.5 million square foot development distributed across six buildings (each of which is four stories high).
A flyer for this public meeting states the item will be voted on at Council's next meeting on January 13, 2026.
The eye-popping amounts Big Tech is shelling out on artificial intelligence resembles shale’s golden age of spending before a price crash wiped out $2.6 trillion in equity, Carlyle Group Inc.’s Jeff Currie says.
Energy and technology are two of the most important pillars of the economy, leaving other key sectors including finance and health care “useless” without the other two, the veteran commodity market forecaster wrote in a research note Tuesday.
“The shale boom was arguably the most notorious ‘growth at all costs’ capex cycle in the modern era, where energy industry-wide capex reached 110-120% of cash flow at its peak,” Currie said. “So for technology spending to reach energy industry levels should raise a lot of questions.”
Much of the investment from tech companies is going toward chips and data centers to build up computing resources to support AI development. AI compute can be measured in dollars per hour, much like oil is traded in dollars per barrel, Currie wrote.
Confidence in future AI computing prices stabilizing around the $1- to $2-per-hour range “echoes the same confidence that the US shale producers had in $100/bbl oil that drove their spending far above cash flow,” he wrote.
U.S. oil producers were able to only keep drilling debt on their balance sheets during the early days of the shale boom, while entering into long-term contracts with special-purpose vehicles that would take on the burden for additional capex to build pipelines. That finance structure is reminiscent of the AI boom today, he said.
“Big Tech AI appears to be using the exact same playbook that the energy industry used as these arrangements clearly rhyme with today’s AI datacenter SPV arrangements,” Currie said. “We cannot forget about the land grab, or the ‘race for positioning’ as the oil patch called it, which mirrors the AI ‘land rush.’”
Our part of West Texas lived through the shale boom and subsequent bust. Current drilling is more reminiscent of the bust phase despite Trump II's call for "drill baby drill." Lots of oilfield equipment sits parked and "man camps" are one third full.
We are in the AI subsidy phase as local governments plan to provide cheap electricity and water to already provided inexpensive land outside San Angelo city limits.
City government and the Chamber of Commerce are facilitating "data center site development tied to renewable energy access."
Our Interim Economic Development Executive Director is also an Assistant City Manager and plans to retire soon. It's not clear his future plans but Michael Dane is in a key position to monetize his public service experience in the private sector should he keep "facilitating."
City Manger Daniel Valenzuela also plans to retire in October 2026. That would mean the top two people who negotiated any AI data center deal will not be around to see how it worked out.
We lived through the Shale Boom when local hotel rooms went for NYC rates, restaurants and roads were packed and driving in the direction of the oil field was a life threatening experience (as big truck drivers texted amid road work).
Skybox Data Centers needs access to lots of water and electricity and so far the city has been mum on any economic development proposals, although they are surely underway. The City sold Skybox the land which sits outside city limits. There has been no talk of annexation to date. The news section of the Development Corporation website has this:
Is that AI gibberish or Latin?
Citizens have funded water infrastructure via high water bills and special capital charges. It would be tragic for Skybox or its future tenant/renter/user to pay only marginal water costs, even worse if heavily discounted.
The Hickory Aquifer Project has the ability to pump 10.8 MGD to San Angelo and has the equipment in place to treat a total of 8 MGD.
Ricky Perry's Fermi Amarillo AI project, known as Project Matador, plans to use 2.5 million gallons a day but will expand to 10 MGD.
Should Skybox's project have a similar arc, their data center would occupy nearly 100% of the Hickory Water production. What percent of the costs, operating, capital and infrastructure, might they actually pay?
The same City Council meeting where they passed on 100% of health insurance premium increases to retirees, Council discussed assisting developers with infrastructure costs, like bigger water mains.
The Carlyle Group was the subject of the third post on StateoftheDivsion in March 2006 and kicked off PEUReport in 2007 with their ability to sell 50 airport operations to Dubai Aerospace just months after the Dubai Ports World uproar. The politically connected private equity underwriter (PEU) located in Washington, D.C. to tap government wallets and directly influence laws and regulations. Their founders became "policy making billionaires."
Carlyle's current political challenge is getting U.S. government approval to sell Crown Bioscience, a San Diego based clinical research organization (CRO) to affiliate Adiconn, a Chinese lab/CRO. I believe they can thread that needle.
Texas Governor Rick Perry gave Carlyle $35 million to add 3,000 jobs at Vought Aircraft Industries in Dallas. By the end of the incentive period Vought had cut 35, that was $1 million per job lost.
Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren. Increasingly, more are one.
Note: I have been amazed by the intersection of my three blogs, PEUReport - harms done by private equity, StateoftheDivision -local San Angelo issues and ArisFreedomSwitch - politics in general. I could cross post most pieces on a daily basis. That's how intertwined things have become.
Update 11-30-25: One Virginia state legislator won his election because of his promise to fight datacenters.
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).
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 12-16-25: 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 in Abilene. They did so in a podcast which can be viewed below:
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 12-21-25: TechGods plan to put political money behind the people they can control.
Update 12-24-25: City of San Angelo officials spoke withConcho Valley Homepage regarding possible data centers.
Update 12-30-25: Concho Valley Homepage reported on the Data Center community meeting.Concho Observer also ran a piece on the meeting.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution remembering those who died in the July 4th flash floods and recognizing the heroic efforts of those who responded.
Sadly, severe flooding is underway in several Texas counties this evening as heavy rains fell over the San Saba River watershed. The Menard County Judge was lauded for his response to the July 4th event, both before and during the flooding that imperiled homes along waterways. He and first responders are busy again tonight.
Unfortunately, not all county judges, sheriffs and emergency management coordinators rose to the occasion on July 4th. Kerr County had no emergency leadership during the worst of the flash flooding. Phone calls were not answered. A Disaster Command Post was not set up.
Several Kerr County Commissioners were heroes in responding to the flooding in their communities but the County as a whole failed to mobilize a response per their adopted disaster plans.
The public awaits Kerr County's promised after action report (disaster evaluation). The County Sheriff spoke of this need just days after the event as did a Kerr County Commissioner in an August Commissioner's Court meeting.
Can the U.S. House and the State of Texas hold accountable the people who failed to do their job that day? That could send a message to officials who prioritize their needs over that of the community when disaster strikes.
Update 11-26-25: Four lawsuits have been filed against Camp Mystic for the deaths of young campers and counselors.
Update 12-6-25: The 911 calls to Kerrville Emergency Dispatch were made public. The calls reveal increasing desperation and peril. The calls from the 911 center to Emergency Management Officials are yet to be released.
Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas had been on medical leave after heart surgery but returned to work on November 10th. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly is looking to hire help for Thomas. The top three Kerr County officials continue to cover for each other and they are yet to produce/share an after action report.
Update 12-7-25: Concho Valley Homepageran the 911 call story.
San Angelo City Council will discuss the following item in closed session on Tuesday:
Personnel matters regarding the Assistant City Manager & City Manager
The Development Corporation Board received an update regarding the hiring of an Economic Development executive. Assistant City Manager Michael Dane has performed this additional role since Guy Andrews left in August 2022. He has been compensated for that extra work since October 1 of that year.
Dane said he hoped a candidate would be hired and possibly in place by the December meeting. That's three years and three months since the full time position opened up.
City Manager Daniel Valenzuela announced he is in his last year and will retire in October 2026. Rumors have Michael Dane leaving/retiring at the end of 2025.
Personnel matters can cover many things, evaluations, pay increases or adjustments, disciplinary appeals, etc., so the potential list is broad. It will be interesting to hear if Council has anything to share once their meeting reconvenes after executive/closed session.
Big investors behind future power and AI projects have clear expectations around tax abatement and the need for economic subsidies, direct and indirect. They also demand fast track everything, where their needs are prioritized over existing citizens, electricity ratepayers and public water users. That requires a subservient City Council and an accommodating city management.
Dane indicated the City will contract for the work associated with the Northeast Sector Master Plan. Assistant City Manager Rick Weise seemed to confirm Dane's upcoming retirement in the Development Corporation meeting during their banter about "greenery" vs. "design."
Council will consider $255,000 to fund a Northeast Sector plan. That's the area of town where Skybox Data Centers plans to build an AI data center. It's also close to where Peregrine Energy plans to put a battery storage facility.
The Industrial Park is included in the Northeast Sector. The Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System is buying 5.5 acres in the city's Industrial Park.
Texas Tech is a provider of land for the giant AI Project Matador associated with former Governor Rick Perry's Fermi. There are a lot of players and movers in the AI space amid the land, electricity and water rush.
It's but one data point, the November 18th Council meeting, but it likely indicates the trajectory of our future.
Update 11-16-25: The City is recruiting for Michael Dane's position and applications closed on November 9th according to LinkedIn. That could be the topic of discussion in Council's closed session.
Salary range begins at $178,303
Update 11-17-25: Tony Deden wrote:
This essay was born out of revulsion to an accidental summer reading that paraded progress as virtue and private equity as its high priest. Every paragraph spoke the same pious language of “sustainable improvement,” “societal benefit,” and “long-term value creation,” as though leverage, asset-stripping, and balance-sheet cosmetics had become moral acts. I found myself revolted not merely by the hypocrisy, but by the vacuousness of it. In our hyper-financialized society, we have come to mistake valuation for value, and activity for achievement. The word ‘progress’ has been exploited to justify anything that moves—no matter what it destroys. What follows is an act of refusal to bow to the idea that more money is progress. If this essay has a motive, it is contempt for the trivial slogans that pass as thought, and for the hollow theory that confuses financial §engineering with human improvement.
Local politicians and Texas voters would be wise to read his piece.
Update 11-19-25: Mayor Thompson had no report, no action items after Council's closed session. He did joke with Michael Dane regarding a February 2026 meeting that will held in the evening as to whether that would be alright with the retiring Assistant City Manager.
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