Matagorda County Data Centers, Matagorda County, Texas

Barrio Energy plans two 10-megawatt data centers in Matagorda County, Texas, and residents have organized against them. A petition from the group Matagorda County Against Data Centers had gathered more than 300 signatures by April 2026, and the county's economic development corporation has answered it point by point. Barrio said in August 2025 the first site would open by the end of 2025 and the second in early 2026; the project is still listed as proposed, with no report of either site opening.

Barrio announced the two sites for advanced computing, modular data centers and cryptocurrency mining, both connected to ERCOT's South Zone, together totaling 20 megawatts. The county's economic development director described one as 10 megawatts sitting on 4 acres. Barrio, based in Houston and founded in 2022 by former Chevron team lead Ivan Pinney, runs similar sites in Monahans, George West, Lolita and Tyler, with clients including cryptomining operations.

Residents say the county is the wrong place. "I'm not completely against data centers, but I believe data centers belong in a better place, not small rural communities," said Donna Howard of Matagorda County Against Data Centers. "How is this going to affect our water table? How is this going to affect our farmers?" asked Cheryl Wilkins, another member. "We should have a say so. We should have an opinion; our opinion should matter," said Angelica Hernandez.

The petition says three data centers are seeking to locate in the county and warns of "significant noise, air, water, and light pollution" and higher electric costs, in a county on a major bird migration route. It claims a 10-megawatt data center uses as much electricity as 8,000 to 10,000 homes.

The Matagorda County Economic Development Corporation disputes those numbers, saying a 10-megawatt facility equals about 2,500 homes under ERCOT standards and that Barrio's sites are flexible loads that power down when prices and demand spike. It says the projects would use "zero local water" with closed-loop cooling, would be about 37 decibels, and would not put upgrade costs on residents.

"So this isn't a large data center," director Michael Ferdinand told ABC13, adding that ERCOT classifies large facilities as starting at 75 megawatts, and that the company had not approached the Lower Colorado River Authority for water. "10 megawatts is still large, I feel like they're downplaying," Howard said.

Statewide, new data center approvals in Texas are frozen: Governor Greg Abbott ordered ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission in August 2026 to audit data centers in the grid queue before more move forward, and in September told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing permits for data center projects until that review is done. Ferdinand said ERCOT helps approve facilities like these based on the grid. "But at least we can voice as constituents what it is we want," Howard said.