CleanSpark Data Center, Brazoria County, Texas

CleanSpark, the Bitcoin mining company moving into AI hosting, plans a data center campus of up to 600 megawatts on 447 acres near Angleton in Brazoria County, Texas. The company closed the purchase in March 2026, saying the deal adds 300 megawatts of ERCOT-approved power to its Texas portfolio, with room to grow by another 300 megawatts. No tenant has been named yet, but Meta has signed a letter of intent for 885 megawatts across CleanSpark's Sealy and Brazoria sites, an SEC filing tied to a separate Meta lease in Sandersville, Georgia shows.

Brazoria County's only operating data center, a 17-megawatt Giga Energy site near the town of Brazoria, has drawn noise complaints since it opened in March 2026. "The constant noise and vibration are still a daily nuisance," resident Wesley Burnett told commissioners. On June 9, 2026, Brazoria County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution opposing any future data center that does not protect the grid, water, farmland and public infrastructure.

County Judge Matt Sebesta says the county cannot block a data center, only withhold tax abatements, which it will not grant. "We cannot stop this project," Sebesta said of a similar data center and gas plant proposed near Sweeny. "We do not have the tools." State Rep. Cody Vasut told The Facts he plans to push legislation next session on noise limits, water use and minimum distances from homes.

On September 21, 2026, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing new data center permits until the state's grid operator, ERCOT, and the Texas Water Development Board finish auditing the industry's power and water use, a halt that now covers CleanSpark's Brazoria plans. The Legislature's next session begins in January 2027, and any tax abatement request for the project would still go to the Brazoria County Commissioners Court, which has said it will not grant one.