Beacon's Pollution Application is Clear Warning

Beacon Data Centers listed a number of entities in its air emissions application with Texas Council for Environmental Quality, a state department that schedules polluters and water table depleters.  Entities include Beacon Data Centers, Beacon Services USA LLC and Westline TX Holdings LLC.  All use a Texas corporate registration agent in Austin.  

The application indicates the site will become a major electrical generation facility with hundreds of generators, both natural gas and diesel.  It also will be able to pump huge volumes of water.

It states "100 hours per fire water pump" times 60 pumps times 3,528 gallons per hour equals 21.2 million gallons.

A flow rate of 84 BPH (Barrels Per Hour) translates to roughly 58.8 gallons per minute (GPM) or 3,528 gallons per hour (GPH)

That is for one aspect of a giant operation.  Beacon already dropped its promise not to drill wells and avoid using groundwater.

The generators need to be in a climate controlled area as their maximum operating air temperature is 100 degrees.   So cooling is needed for both the data center side and the electrical generation side of the massive operation.

As for pollutants Westline is seeking TCEQ's stamp of approval for increased emission thresholds for seven pollutants:

Beacon started by calling the project Dove Creek Technology Campus but their public meeting at the Four56 Church did not as planned.  

After encountering significant local opposition Beacon instituted a name change.  It can be seen in their Delaware corporate registration (the week after the public meeting).

Concho Observer ran a piece suggesting pollution from the site would be minor relative to other uses.  That should not be a surprise as their owner represented Beacon at the Tom Green County Commissioners' Court in May and is a prominent attorney and leading member of the political Blue Team.

Beacon is backed by private equity firm Nadia Partners.  An interruption of capital flows could quickly derail this project.  Citizens will find out if Nadia has the goods to bring this abomination to life.  

Outside finances there is little to nothing standing in their way in permissive, already hot & drought prone Texas.  Beacon paid an extra $20,000 on top of the $75,000 fee to have their pollution request expedited.

Longtime San Angelo residents recall the West Texas Utilities Power Plant on Lake Nasworthy.  

The first pre-engineered combined-cycle power plant installed by the West Texas Utilities Company at its power station in San Angelo, Texas. The Westinghouse Electric gas turbine used for that application was a supercharged model W301, nominally rated at 25MW. The rating on the steam turbine was 85MW, for an overall combined-cycle plant power rating of 110MW, and Thermal efficiency achieved was more than 39 percent, the record for gas-fired power plants in the U.S. for quite some time.

Hot Water Slough got its name from discharged water from that plant.  How much hot air and water will Westline be discharging into our environment from its various heavy commercial operations?  

Add additional hot air every time Beacon executives visit...

Beacon's Westline Now 2.4 MW Project, Major Polluter

The neighborly Beacon Data Center team plans to foul West Texas air with their onsite power plant. 

The Texas Commission for Environmental Quality received an application from Beacon's Westline project for permission to launch contaminants into the air.  They've determined it is complete.

Beacon would begin construction January 1, 2027.  New Year's Day must not be a holiday in Canada.

The application indicates Beacon's Westline would be a significant generator of electricity as well as a major polluter.  Some details from the submission are reproduced below.

I have a different name for TCEQ.  It is the:

Texas Commission for Scheduling Pollution Emissions & Water Table Drawdowns (TC-SPEW-TD).  

I hope someday they prove me wrong.  

Capital markets may not be as permissive as Texas "regulators."

Update:  Beacon Services USA LLC paid TCEQ $95,000, which includes $20,000 to expedite the application..  

Update 7-12-26:  Concho Observer ran a story on Beacon's lack of communication with County officials as it applied to TCEQ for air emissions.  CO's owner represented Beacon at the company's last appearance before Tom Green County Commissioners Court.  CO ran a piece on the requested emissions which failed to illuminate the massive electrical generation operation that is planned.

DOE to Fund Colchis over Skybox/Emergent?

Fox West Texas reported the U.S. Department of Energy will loan AEP $3.26 billion for electrical infrastructure upgrades and expansion:

The agency said the financing will support about 100 transmission projects across Texas, including rebuilding or reconductoring existing transmission lines and constructing new transmission infrastructure spanning roughly 2,800 miles. 

Officials said the projects are intended to improve grid reliability, reduce power interruptions and help connect new sources of baseload generation to the system. 

The department said the transmission upgrades are also aimed at meeting growing electricity demand from data centers, advanced manufacturing and oil and natural gas development in the Permian Basin.

AEP has an agreement with Cipher Digital's Colchis Data Center project in just outside of city limits in Northeast San Angelo.  It is basically across the street from the proposed Skybox/Emergent Data Center.

ERCOT's Batch Zero competition will determine which data center projects get the necessary power.   

July 10, 2026 — Deadline for projects wanting to be part of Batch Zero to submit required technical studies and documentation.

Cipher Digital previously noted in a press release:

The Colchis site includes a fully executed 1-GW Direct Connect Agreement with American Electric Power (“AEP”), under which AEP will construct the necessary dual interconnection facility for a targeted energization in 2028. Construction of the interconnection facility will proceed in parallel with ERCOT's final review and approval.

If the DOE is funding AEP's Direct Connect interconnection facility with Colchis, is that not a thumb on the scale for that project over Skybox/Emergent, which leads us back to my original comment: 

I wonder if AEP's dual interconnection facility garners them an equity stake in Colchis. It seems strange that AEP would pick one data center over another at this stage. Shouldn't they work with whichever was approved by ERCOT via Batch Zero? It feels like a thumb on the scale. 

 However it is Texas where there are lots of thumbs and even more scales.

Spring 2027 is the timeframe for ERCOT to " provides each Batch Zero large user with the amount of electricity that can reliably be allocated for their project."  Losers can then enter Batch One.  

As for lowering energy prices, that remains to be seen.   Our prices continue to go up while Texas electrical providers pay us 50% of the rate they did just 15 months ago for our solar power.  

Individual generators get less and less for the power we produce, while delivery fees and base fees continue to eat us up.  Having solar with battery backup hasn't been a zero, but it's nowhere near the projections made when we installed the system.  And we have ERCOT to thank for that. 

Yes, the people who left us without power for five days in frigid conditions in February 2021 continue to deliver us a bad hand.  The DOE loan to AEP may soften that just a tad.  Time will tell.

Retiring City Manager Valenzuela is Model for Endurance

San Angelo City Council recognized retiring City Manager Daniel Valenzuela in this morning's meeting.  Mayor Tom Thompson shared a number of adjectives regarding his experience with Daniel.  I attended with the intention of speaking during public comment but changed my mind after hearing Valenzuela speak.  He said "I've fall short every day, fall flat on my face."  

My public comment highlighted a few of those shortfalls and face plants and I decided it would work just fine in print.  It is below:

Mayor, Council members, City Manager Valenzuela and city staff.  I wish to highlight a few things as this is Mr. Valenzuela’s last council meeting. Mr. Valenzuela has been a role model for his ability to endure. He joined the city in 2012 and immediately faced several trials brought on by staff. Water Chief Will Wilde purchased over $100,000 of new furniture without the approval of Assistant City Managers Elizabeth Grindstaff and Interim City Manager Michael Dane. I obtained a copy of the internal investigation which was undated and unsigned. 

The City then eliminated its Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic, parked the staff in other departments so it could get Medicare 1115 Waiver funding to reinstate, improve and expand services in a new facility. Medicare took back money for the new building but forgave the city for not fulfilling its promises to increase clinical staff, extend hours or conduct clinics in outreach locations. Medicare looked the other way when the city closed its critical public health clinic for fifteen months due to COVID. Meanwhile, another part of the federal government gave the city millions. 

The city had roughly $640,000 remaining in 1115 Waiver funds as of early March. That is over twelve years of annual rent. I find it odd that an initial three-year program to increase local healthcare access can fund the same STD program that existed months prior in the same physical space for well over several decades. It’s the Feds money and apparently, they like funding long term rent. 

Early in Mr. Valenzuela’s job city economic development staff characterized Mayor Alvin New as an advisory board member for MedHab. This was a misrepresentation. Mayor New was full member of the company’s board of directors with full fiduciary duties. City leaders changed economic development rules to fund MedHab’s production site. Those 400 promised jobs never arrived. 

City Manager Valenzuela handled all these events with decorum, aplomb and endurance. 

Texans need endurance given the economic landscape that faces us. Many recall the Shale boom and its impact. A potential data center boom looms with demands on water, infrastructure, housing, and the electrical grid. That grid failed millions in February 2021. We were reduced to frigid pioneers with texting capabilities for five days. 

As a result, we installed a solar system with battery backup. Nearly all the initial projections have not been realized. The state added delivery charges and Reliant Energy now pays us half of the amount for power that they did 15 months ago, while charging us more. There is no competition for our power in the Texas Electrical Cartel. 

Mr. Valenzuela, in your retirement may you avoid governments telling you to enjoy the creekless creek, to put up with the humless hum, to not smell the gasless gas emissions and to proudly pay the billless bill for ever increasing rent, insurance, water and electricity.

Promises are made, projections offered and assumptions shared.  Reality occurs.  It is rare that there is an accounting of gaps between and responsibility taken.  

San Angelo and the Concho Valley are entering a new phase and I recommend everyone buckle up.  The big money boys have found us and they don't like to share.

Citizens will need more than Valenzuela's ability to endure.  We will need "Booger Red's" legendary riding skills.  Frankly, it's now ride or be ridden. 

Government is supposed to be the counterbalance to runaway exploitation of people, resources and the public commons.  I understand our new City Manager has unique skills.  I hope that includes dealing with the big money boys.  

Update 7-10-26:  The City held a reception for retiring City Manager Daniel Valenzuela.

Tax Abatement for Technology Tower Returns

San Angelo City Council will conduct a public hearing on a proposal to offer a 75% tax abatement to Technology Tower for its $7.5 million investment in major building improvements.  The site is the former Sitel building on Loop 306.  

Three years ago the City provided $250,000 to support the renovations.  

Just over two years ago the Development Corporation Board addressed a tax abatement for up to $5.1 million in improvements.  The meeting packet stated:

COSADC also recommended Council consider extending a tax abatement of City property tax on the property. This item was approved by COSADC at their meeting on May 24, 2023 and ratified by City Council at their meeting on June 6, 2023. 

At their meeting on October 3, 2023 CIty Council approved the renewal of Chapter 1 “General Provisions”, Article 1.09 “Taxation”, Division 3 “Uniform Tax Abatement Policy”, of the CIty Code of Ordinances. 

Technology Towers, LLC has requested a tax abatement in accordance with the ordinance. According to the approved Tax Abatement Policy, a capital investment of $2.5M -$5M (the proposed increase in value) would receive a 60% tax abatement for a period of up to 7 years, limited, however, "no more than five tax years next following the timely and successful completion of the project." 

Assuming current tax rates and a 7 year rebate at 60% of the increase in appraised value, the total tax rebate would be approximately $89,484.00 over the seven year period of the abatement.  

The building renovation cost went up $2.4 million in the interim, as did the abatement percentage which rose 15%.  The former $90,000 abatement could rise to $223,000, depending on the city's ability to increase the property value under new state law.

Staff may or may not share this history as they are known for their minimalist approach in providing elected officials information.  Will a new City Manager be able to change that longstanding oddity?  I offer no predictions.