Rural counties trying to slow or even block data center construction are finding they have limited legal authority, the Texas Standard reported. Hill County, for example, rescinded a one-year moratorium on data center construction after being sued for $100 million by a company planning a large-scale data center project near Hillsboro.
RCM Hill argued that the county lacked the legal authority to impose the temporary ban, which came after the company had already secured contracts for more than 800 acres for more than $80 million.
“You’re not going to see anybody else trying a moratorium at this point because they’ve seen what happens when you do it,” said Robert Paterson, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in land use law. “You basically just get clubbed with a ridiculous amount of money.”
