El Paso City Council to develop guidelines for future data centers

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)--After months of discussion, the El Paso City Council has voted 5-3 to develop best-practice guidelines for future data centers that may come to El Paso.

The decision comes as construction plans move forward for a new Meta data center in northeast El Paso. While that project is already approved, city leaders say the new framework will help guide similar developments in the future.

Mayor Renard Johnson has directed the city manager to establish a framework in the coming weeks. The guidelines are expected to address infrastructure needs, resource strain, environmental impacts and long-term community costs associated with data center projects.

District 4 City Representative Cynthia Boyar Trejo said community input will play a key role in shaping the policy.

“It is both needed and necessary to have this discussion to carefully consider the direction of data center development in El Paso,” Boyar Trejo said. “Before bringing this item forward, I met with members of the community, business community, residents, activists to gain a holistic perspective of opportunities, concerns and the broader implications of this industry. Through these conversations, it became clear that there were some misunderstandings and misconceptions on multiple sides.”

City leaders say additional public feedback will be considered as the framework is developed.