HyperDataGrid Data Center, Lufkin, Texas

HyperDataGrid, a Texas company, is building a data center outside Lufkin, in Angelina County, on the 40-acre site of the old Northern Chip Mill at Ben Dunn Road and Highway 103 West. Angelina County Judge Keith Wright said in July 2026 that the company had already secured electrical and water agreements and begun clearing land.

A second, larger project, Amp Z Data Center, is proposed on the old Southland Paper Mill site on Highway 103 East, but as of July 2026 it had no construction activity and was still waiting on a power agreement with Oncor. "103 West is kind of out of sight, out of mind," Wright said. "But that's the one that's going to move forward first because they're already working on it," he said.

Most people in the county did not know the HyperDataGrid project existed. County officials say they have no legal authority to stop either data center from being built; Texas counties do not have zoning power, and state law severely limits what counties can do about development. The county's only lever is a negotiated tax abatement, and only if a company applies for one.

HyperDataGrid must still negotiate a road use agreement with commissioners, which the county plans to use to ask for concessions. Commissioners were also weighing a resolution asking the legislature for limited authority over data centers and other large industrial projects, and Wright said state senator Trent Ashby and state representative Rocky Thigpen were open to it. On August 3, 2026, Governor Greg Abbott ordered a statewide pause on new data centers connecting to the power grid pending an audit; HyperDataGrid had already secured its electrical agreement before then.