Venus Data Center, Venus, Texas

A company has filed plans for a data center on about 217 acres at 900 East County Road 109 in Venus, Johnson County, Texas. The project's status with the city is proposed, and Texas counties have little authority over data center rezoning or permits, so state rules are the main hurdle it still faces.

Land around Venus is being sold for data centers. A CBRE listing called Project Venus offers 700 acres nearby with a 345 kV transmission line through the site, an Oncor switching station under construction and a 12-inch gas pipeline, with Oncor requests pending to expand the site's available power. The listing tells buyers no rezoning, special use permit, comprehensive plan amendment or public hearing is required.

In late 2024 about 3,700 acres near Midlothian in Ellis County and Venus in Johnson County went up for sale for data centers and energy companies, most of it owned by rancher and oilman Richard Miskimon. A broker said buyers wanted sites of 400 acres or more. Google built a $600 million data center near Midlothian in 2019.

Statewide, Gov. Greg Abbott told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on September 21, 2026 to issue no permits sought by data center projects until audits by the state's grid operator and water board are complete. "Data centers must pay their own way, protect our grid and water, and complete the ERCOT and TWDB audits," Abbott said. For the Venus site, with little county authority to stop it, those state permits are the main checkpoint, and TCEQ must report to the governor's office on the pause by October 19, 2026.