Data center & power plant proposal said to be “largest investment in South Texas”

The proposed data center site sits on a 525 acre ranch about a half-mile south of Devine’s city limits on Hwy 132 (just a little ways past Burnt Boot and San Francisco Perez Creeks). The sale of the property is out of local leader’s hands. However, some of the things the City of Devine has power to decide include: #1- Will Devine annex the property and provide water/sewer to the site?
#2-If annexed, will the city offer tax breaks/ incentives, and for what in return? #3- What ordinances or policies would Devine put in place for developments of this type? Photo by KK Calame

City of Devine to consider annex providing water/sewer, tax breaks in future

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
The proposed data center coming in just south of the City of Devine near I-35 will be an 800 MegaWatt, with half of that power generated by natural gas and half of the power coming from its own on-site power plant. (It’s a good thing as that’s enough electricity to power as many as 200,000 homes by comparison at any given moment). In an interview this Monday, we learned a few interesting things about this project, which is rather unique in a few ways.
“There is a lot that we don’t know ourselves,” Mayor Cook said. “We have some of the same questions you do.”
Developer representatives (who haven’t disclosed the company’s name) have stated “this is going to be the largest one, the largest private investment in South Texas”, not in size, but money-wise.
Mayor Cook and City Administrator David Jordan emphasized that the city wants to get the information out to the public as soon as they can. They also acknowledge that the City has no say on deciding if a data center gets built here, or not. The land is in Medina County and it was sold to a data center company by a private individual.
“It’s not in the city. They want to be annexed for the water and the sewer, and they asked if we have the capacity to provide it,” Jordan said. “They are asking for a 2 inch meter [compared to another large business which has an 8” meter].”
“By the time the company came to us, they already knew they had a gas line running through the property and a transfer station on the property. They came to us to ask if we can provide water/sewer.”
The City of Devine is allotted 911 acre-feet of water from the Edward’s Aquifer. Last year, the city of Devine used about 183 million gallons of water out of its 296 million gallons normally allotted by the Edward’s Aquifer during non-drought times.
However, the City has been under Stage 4 pumping restrictions all summer…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!