A global infrastructure developer canceled its large-scale Henderson County, Texas,data center project this week after it did not meet the new directives from the state, following months of local opposition.
On Thursday, Diode Ventures told Henderson County officials it concluded its planned data center site near Cedar Creek Lake was too close to the community and did not meet new data center standards Texas governor Greg Abbott (R)released in June. The company said it will not pursue development at this location but will look for opportunities elsewhere in Texas.
Under the Abbott's new requirements, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) must begin taking steps to shield Texas communities from data center expansion costs and facility development risks. The governor pledged to codify the protections into law, which also included steps to manage water usage, improve transparency, phase out tax incentives and protect rural communities.
This action follows growing opposition todata center development throughout Texas, as more projects have been proposed. Groups like Texas Coalition Against Data Centers and Texas Data Center Reform Coalition have formed over the past six months, aiming to inhibit and regulate Texan data center development.
Diode's project withdrawal "was not the outcome of one person or one elected official," Henderson County Precinct 1 commissioner Wendy Spivey said on a social media post, but rather, "the result of a community that became informed, got involved and respectively made its voice heard."
Henderson County residents had been protesting Diode's Cedar Creek Lake data center development for months before Abbott released his data center directives. Citizens founded the Save Cedar Creek Lake organization, citing concerns over water usage, property values, noise pollution and more. A petition against the project launched on 9 May has since received nearly 4,000 signatures, citing concerns about pollution, natural resource degradation and water usage.

