Across town, residents in southeast Fort Worth and the nearby city of Forest Hill have been protesting the development of another $10 billion data center that has raised questions about how nearby cities benefit when a data center comes to town, and about the potential health and environmental risks associated with data centers.
Many of those same questions were asked Monday night as the group of Benbrook and Fort Worth residents — an autonomous group, loosely organized until something more formal is decided — discussed how to voice their concerns about a proposed $1.1 billion data center.
In June 2025, the Fort Worth City Council approved the rezoning of 186 acres owned by PMB Capital Investments in the Veale Ranch development, near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Chapin School Road.
Fort Worth is now considering a tax break for Edged Data Centers, a subsidiary of sustainable infrastructure company Endeavor, for a data center to be developed on that land. Council members discussed the proposal at the March 3 work session, and it is expected to be on the agenda at the council’s March 31 meeting.
The data center would be in the city of Fort Worth, in District 3, near Benbrook’s southern edge.
“Everybody’s heard some of the news about them building that data center on the east side of Fort Worth over by Everman, and those people’s voices screeched out to the City Council,” Gary Hogan, president of the Chapel Creek neighborhood association, told the crowd. “They are making a difference. Will they win? I can’t promise you that.”
Hogan said that he helped form a neighborhood group in the early 2000s to advocate against unsafe drilling in North Texas.
“We already know and have heard for years that our grid is perilous,” Hogan said. “Even when we get freeze or wind warnings or heat waves in the summer, we get news from the governor saying, ‘don’t worry, we got it under control,’ but they always end up having mass electricity go down.”
The data center will include an Oncor substation, according to the tax agreement proposal, and ERCOT, the state’s power grid, has signed off on the development. The site plan includes a buffer from nearby housing developments.
Jan Brignac, president of the Markum Ranch neighborhood association, began mobilizing her neighbors after hearing about the proposed development in 2024.
“It’s just a dog and pony show,” Brignac said. “We have done so much stuff to try to keep everybody informed.”
Krista Erbe, a Fort Worth resident who came to the meeting, said she felt empowered seeing her neighbors come together.
“I think it’s fantastic seeing how many people showed up and are voicing their concerns and hoping we can keep this movement going forward and organize everybody in a way that actually makes a difference,” Erbe told the Star-Telegram. “This is not something we can stop. This is technology. This is the future, and unless massive laws change, I don’t know that we can stop them, but I do think we can impact how they’re done.”
The group agreed to delegate people to give public comment at the Fort Worth City Council meeting held at 10 a.m. March 31 at the City Council Chamber, 100 Fort Worth Trail.
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