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Data centers in Johnson County, Texas: 1 project mapped
Johnson County's commissioners say they cannot stop a data center, and two are now in front of them. One applicant has filed for a permit for about 200 acres on Texas 171 between County Roads 1202 and 310, close to homes and a church; development services director Jennifer Vanderlaan said its site plan shows future buildings not labeled as data centers, and the county has no information on its water or electricity needs. A second proposal, about 1,800 acres on U.S. 67 near County Roads 1120 and 1120A, has submitted a site plan labeled for a data center but no permit application yet.
The court feels powerless because Texas counties lack zoning and building-inspection authority, and buyers of 10 or more acres need not plat their land. Commissioner Rick Bailey said a county only gains leverage, such as requiring clean-up bonds, if it grants a tax abatement, and commissioners oppose abatements for data centers. "We are going to have data centers in this county, and the State of Texas is going to see to it," Bailey said. Commissioner Kenny Howell called developers "sneaky, secretive and not transparent," citing layers of LLCs that make ownership hard to trace.
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Residents' worries are water, power and chemicals, in a county that in 2025 asked the governor to declare an emergency over PFAS levels in its soil and water. Public Citizen's Rita Beving told a May meeting that closed-loop cooling systems still lose 10 to 20 percent of their water to evaporation and that cooling water can carry PFAS. Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution asking the Legislature for more county authority and a pause on new applications while impacts are studied, one of 16 Texas counties to do so. "We don't want to run out of water or freeze to death because there's no power," said County Judge Chris Boedeker.
The one tracked project on record, Venus Data Center, has no company named and may or may not be either of the two proposals; it is not yet clear which company is behind each one. The Legislature returns in January 2027 with data centers expected on its agenda.
Data center projects on record in Johnson County
Grouped by the town each site sits in. The report above may name projects that have no record here yet.
Venus1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venus Data CenterVenus | Not reported | Proposed | Not reported |
Where this comes from
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Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.