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.

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.

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.