TEMPLE, Texas — Temple officials advanced plans for a proposed $4.2 billion data center campus while considering new development rules for future projects as residents raise concerns about the impact of large facilities on the community.
Rowan Digital Infrastructure, a Colorado-based data center developer, has proposed a three-phase campus with six buildings at the Synergy Southeast Industrial Park. The project would cover about 316 acres and sit about 70 miles north of Austin.
Temple City Council reviewed the proposal Sept. 3 along with proposed restrictions for future data center developments.
City Manager Brynn Myers said Rowan plans to build the three phases at different locations within the industrial park. Phase one would sit east of Bob White Road, phase two west of Loop 363 and phase three south of the BKB/Panda power plant.
Rowan has committed to invest $700 million during each tax-abatement phase and create 40 full-time jobs, Myers said.
The company also agreed to pay for construction of the city’s Synergy aquifer-storage-and-recovery well and fund 45%, or about $32 million, of Temple’s $71.1 million South Temple Water Infrastructure Capital Program.
City staff said Rowan would not own the well, aquifer, water or water rights.
Water use draws attention
The proposed campus would use a closed-loop cooling system. Each building would require an initial fill of about 1.5 million gallons, with the system recirculating the water for at least 10 years.
After that period, Rowan expects the campus to consume about 32,000 gallons of water per day, with peak daily use reaching 78,000 gallons.
Temple officials said the projected peak consumption would represent less than 1% of the water used daily by city customers.
“I know one of the concerns that the community has expressed is what will be the impact on the City of Temple’s water resources,” Myers said. “Temple is in a strong long-term water position … we’re currently utilizing about half of the annual water supply rights that we have.”
City moves project forward
The City Council advanced several measures connected to Rowan’s proposal, including annexing about 316 acres, conditionally rezoning the property and creating or expanding tax-abatement reinvestment zones.
The council also reviewed proposed restrictions that could apply to future data center projects.
An amendment to Rowan’s tax-abatement agreement, along with development, infrastructure and utility agreements for each phase, will return to the council for consideration.
The proposed campus comes as Temple seeks to expand its role as a data center hub while residents continue to raise concerns about the effects of large-scale facilities on local resources and infrastructure.
