Riot Platforms data center, Corsicana, Texas

Riot Platforms' bitcoin mine and data center campus sits on FM 709, about seven miles outside Corsicana, Navarro County's seat. Corsicana had 25,109 residents at the 2020 census and sits 50 miles southeast of Dallas. The city announced the project on April 27, 2022: a 265-acre, 400-megawatt bitcoin mine promising about 150 jobs.

Riot energized the first phase on April 18, 2024. Riot has since bought more land, including a further 238 acres in 2025, taking the site to around 890 acres. Riot says the Corsicana facility will have a total capacity of 1 gigawatt when fully developed. So far the site is equipped with 400 megawatts of power for bitcoin mining, and Riot aims to pivot at least part of it to AI and high-performance computing. In 2026 Riot filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to add a new two-story data center building of 335,430 square feet, called Project Ditto, at the campus at 6980 FM 709; the $400 million project is set to run from April 2026 to May 2028.

Riot's growth has come with a fight over tax breaks. In March 2024, Navarro County commissioners rejected a tax abatement for a planned $640 million, 256-acre expansion after residents packed the courtroom. Navarro County Commissioner David Brewer told DL News: "If you want to know my personal opinion about it, I don't think it's a good investment," adding, "I think that they created a lot of controversy out there." That October, on a 3-2 vote, commissioners approved a smaller abatement, and Brewer reversed his earlier opposition to vote yes. The rejected March proposal would have saved Riot nearly $14 million in property taxes over a decade and was tied to a promise of 180 full-time jobs. Riot said the expanded facility, once complete, would use enough electricity to power Navarro County's roughly 22,000 homes 34 times over.

Opponents organized as the Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining, led by Jackie Sawicky, who had moved to Corsicana in 2018. On October 25, 2023, the coalition and Greenpeace USA protested outside the site with signs reading "No water for Riot." Greenpeace campaigner Joshua Archer said, "There's something worth fighting for in this county." Sawicky called Riot a multibillion-dollar corporation trying to avoid its tax obligations. Resident Theresa Hibbitts raised concerns about water scarcity during the drought. The facility draws about 1.5 million gallons of water a day at peak summer use, roughly an eighth of Corsicana's maximum daily use, from wells into the Woodbine Aquifer and an 18.5-acre rainwater retention pond. Sawicky disbanded the coalition in late 2024 and left Texas for New York.

The site's next phase now faces a new state hurdle. On August 3, 2026, Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to pause approvals for data centers seeking new grid connections until they audit water use, power demand and tax incentives. Abbott's office said on August 18 that Riot Platforms had committed to comply with his standards, which include paying for its own grid upgrades and reusing its water rather than relying on taxpayer incentives.