DECISION 2026
Riley Rodriquez, candidate for Texas Senate District 28, released draft legislation that would require county commissioners courts to review large data centers and similar computing campuses before state agencies issue final permits, grid interconnection approvals, or data-center tax certifications.
Rodriquez issued this press release explaining his beliefs:
“Austin should not finish the paperwork before the courthouse has had a chance to speak,” Rodriquez said. “If a 25-megawatt campus is going to sit on unincorporated land in our district, the people who live there deserve more than a chance to complain after the decisions are made. They deserve a vote at the beginning.”
Defines the projects that matter. A large-load facility is a data center or similar campus of 25 megawatts or more, or 25,000 gallons of water per day or more. That is the scale that changes a rural substation and a rural well field.
Requires a public disclosure packet. Power demand, water source, daily volume, cooling method, tax incentives requested, and a site map must be filed with the county, the groundwater district, and state agencies before final applications move. Water volume and megawatts cannot be hidden as confidential.
Gives the commissioners court 90 days. After notice and a hearing, the court may approve, approve with conditions, or deny. Grounds are limited to water for existing users, roads and emergency response, compatibility with adjoining land, or refusal to disclose. Silence after a complete filing is deemed approval. The bill does not grant counties general zoning authority.
Ties state paper to that vote. No final ERCOT or utility interconnection, TCEQ authorization, or Comptroller data-center sales-tax certification until the county has acted. No new state tax certification without a county resolution. Agreements already executed are left in place.
Most Texas counties cannot zone unincorporated land. Cities can. The campuses now seeking West Texas water and power are landing in that gap. District 28 is already living with drought risk and a grid that has failed this state before. Statewide officials have begun to treat large-load siting as unfinished business. The missing piece is still the courthouse.“We should welcome jobs. We should not accept that a commissioners court has no say in what impacts their community,” Rodriquez said. “Small government means the people closest to the well and the transformer get a voice. I will not support a bill that leaves that power in Austin.”
The question for the incumbent
Rodriquez called on Sen. Charles Perry, who chairs the Senate committee with jurisdiction over water and rural affairs, to take a public position on the draft.
“This is a yes-or-no,” he said. “Will you author or co-author a bill that says a large campus in unincorporated District 28 does not get final state permits or a state tax certification until the commissioners court has voted? If the answer is statewide rules written in Austin are enough, say so. If the answer is the counties should have a real say, put your name on the page.”
The full draft and a one-page summary are available from the campaign. Rodriquez said he will take the proposal to commissioners courts, groundwater districts, and town halls across the district and will introduce it on day one in the 90th Legislature when elected.
