The Fort Worth Data Center & Infrastructure Commission delivered its final report to the City Council on Tuesday during a Special Called City Council Work Session at City Hall. The report makes 19 recommendations on data center development within the City’s authority.
Mike Slattery, Ph.D., chair of the commission, Professor and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies at Texas Christian University, presented the findings.
The City Council called for creation of the commission by Resolution on Aug. 11 to conduct a comprehensive, fact-based evaluation of data center development and provide recommendations within City regulatory authority. The commission, which serves only as advisory, had 11 voting members and a non-voting chair, supported by 10 academic experts who contributed research.
The commission studied four areas: electricity and energy reliability; water use and local resources; land use, siting and neighborhood impacts; and economic and fiscal impacts. For each, the report separates what research has established from what remains uncertain. Its overall finding is that effects depend on the specific facility, how it is designed and where it is placed.
The report notes limits on what the City can do. The electric grid, air permits and statewide water policy fall to state agencies and regional bodies, including the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The City’s authority covers zoning, noise, lighting, terms of its own water service and its economic development incentives.
The 19 recommendations are divided as follows: two on electricity, five on water, eight on land use and four on economic impacts. Eight continue current City practice, five build on standards City staff proposed on June 2, and six are new. The 19 recommendations include (see full list):
- Water: Require closed-loop cooling, which reuses water inside the system instead of continuously drawing new water. Require a facility-level water-impact statement before the City approves water service or an incentive.
- Neighborhood: Set a 350-foot setback, or “Neighbor Protection Distance,” between data centers and homes or other sensitive properties, increased for taller buildings. Limit the sound a facility makes at a neighbor’s property line, backed by a 72-hour background noise study before construction and verification afterward. Keep the City’s zero-foot-candle standard for light reaching neighbors and add a way to verify it in the field. Support the screening and buffer standards City staff proposed June 2. Study low-pitched hum at existing data centers, publish a guide to state backup-generator permit records, and prepare a one-page community profile for each proposed data center. Ask that the City’s 2050 Comprehensive Plan address air quality, heat and cumulative environmental burden.
- Electricity: Require applicants for City incentives to submit a standardized technical fact sheet and attach verifiable grid-related commitments to incentives.
- Economics: Continue rigorous fiscal review of proposed incentives.
The recommendations are not adopted rules or policies. The report and recommendations serve as advice to the City Council. Changes to zoning, noise standards, water policy or incentive practices would require City Council consideration and action through the City’s normal processes. Those next steps are pending City Council direction.
Separately, the City Council’s 6 p.m. meeting included the first public hearing in the legal process for a proposed temporary moratorium on new data center development. The second public hearing in the process will be held during the City Council meeting on Jan. 12, 2027.
Statement from Texas Christian University
“Texas Christian University’s nationally recognized faculty and staff are proud to participate in conversations that are important to our community. Dr. Mike Slattery, Director of TCU’s Institute for Environmental Studies and professor in the department of Environmental & Geological Sciences, agreed to serve as the non-voting chair of this Commission charged to evaluate and make evidence-based recommendations to Fort Worth City Council. Research partners from Cornell, TCU and UTA supported the Commission’s research and analysis, resulting in broadly supported recommendations from the 11-person Commission of community members, industry experts and advocates.
“We are grateful for Dr. Slattery’s work leading the Commission, our research partners for lending their expertise and to the Commission and others for their investment of time in this important topic. Decisions on next steps rest with the council.”
How to read the report and watch
The full report and presentation are online.