Places

Hood County, TX

Hood County, Texas is located in the north-central part of the state and has experienced increased interest for data center development due to its proximity to major Texas population centers and access to electricity infrastructure.

Referenced in 14 briefingsLast referenced: April 6, 2026

Mentions

April 6, 2026

Subscribe for full access

When Military Strikes Take Down Cloud Regions, Location Becomes Strategy

Hood County residents, who previously fought a Bitcoin mining operation and blocked a data center near Dinosaur Valley State Park, drew an overflow crowd at January's annexation meeting.

March 28, 2026

Subscribe for full access

Texas Built the Datacenter Boom. Now It's Auditing the Deal.

Hood County's failed moratorium attempt, which state Sen. Paul Bettencourt called illegal, shows local governments are testing limits even where state preemption exists.

March 27, 2026

Subscribe for full access

El Paso Gets a Gigawatt, and One Congresswoman Has Questions About the Gas

In Hood County, Republican commissioners postponed action on MARA Holdings data center proposals, citing doubts about the boom's permanence.

March 19, 2026

Subscribe for full access

Communities Aren't Anti-Datacenter. They're Anti-Surprise.

The moratorium push gains weight alongside a detailed look at the Sailfish datacenter campus proposed in neighboring Hood County, where community opposition already forced a water strategy reversal, and a statewide SXSW panel warning that Texas datacenter water consumption could hit 161 billion gallons annually by 2030.

March 11, 2026

Texas Developers Need No Permission. Rural Counties Are Changing That.

The resolution, sent to Governor Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick, the PUCT, ERCOT, and the Texas Water Development Board, follows a public hearing that drew roughly 90 residents and reflects a pattern now visible across Hood County, Somervell County, and Jack County simultaneously.

February 25, 2026

Co-Located Power Is the New Default. Texas Counties Can't Stop It.

Meanwhile, seven activists and roughly two dozen supporters rallied at the Capitol demanding Gov. Abbott call a special session, with Hood County residents and Rena Schroeder, a Republican Senate candidate in South Texas, framing data center expansion as a rural threat.

February 15, 2026

Developers Face a Choice: Disclose or Lose the Next $46 Billion

In Hood County, commissioners killed what would have been Texas's first county-level data center moratorium by a 3-2 vote after state Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton arguing counties lack moratorium authority under HB 2559.

Frequently mentioned alongside