Archer County community raises questions about how data centers are handled in rural counties

While the data center industry booms across Texas, rural county land has seemingly become the prime spot for these major corporations to set up shop, revealing a lack of restrictions according to those who live in these areas. Archer County is just one example of this, as a data center is currently in active discussion. Meanwhile, the residents have started to form a coalition of sorts in an effort to prevent this data center from becoming their new neighbor.

Megan Atchison and Jennifer Lindemann both live in Archer County and run successful businesses. To them, the wide open spaces, quiet, and plentiful land were just a few reasons they decided to build a life in the county. Now, according to them, all of that is being threatened with the talks of an incoming data center along Three Way Road.

“We raised our kids to see animals. We see deer out here, we see turkey,” Lindemann said. “That’s what we want for our kids.”

Both are set to be right next door to the proposed facility if it becomes a reality. This led Atchison to create the “Stop the Archer County Data Center” Facebook page. Over the past several months, the two have been working to find answers and inform the community of the impacts this data center could have. They went on to explain that neither of them are anti-data centers, per se. They just believe there should be designated areas for them to be permitted, such as Wichita Falls’ industrial park.

“We want quiet and freedom. We don’t want big-tech in our backyards,” Atchison said.

However, they say no one seemed to have much information about the facility, including their own county commissioners. This has raised concern for many throughout Archer County as Texas has been opening itself up to be the data center hub.

“When someone is telling you how desperately you need something and they’re going to be making money off of it, it turns from an informational piece to a sales pitch,” Atchison stated. “They know how to come in here and bind everyone’s hands and then throw up a building and nobody can ask questions.”

This lack of information led more people to become concerned and start asking questions. However, they were questions no one really had an answer to. Around the same time, District 69 House Representative James Frank was holding town halls to meet with constituents as he gears up for reelection at the end of the year. During a meeting in Lakeside City, on April 2, while Frank’s goal was to answer questions, address concerns, and meet up with his constituents, it didn’t go exactly as planned. A majority of the questions Frank received were entirely centered around the data center.

In an interview, Frank said he originally heard the rumor of the Archer County data center over half a year ago. However, he said, for the most part, the majority of the data centers being talked about are rumors. Additionally, he said that he’s heard a variety of perspectives from the community, some being against the project and others excited for it to be here. Nonetheless, he started to search for answers on behalf of his constituents in an effort to clear the air.

“All of those big corporations seem to be way more secretive than what serves their best interest,” Frank said. “I think if they would be more transparent in what they were doing, people would be more receptive. When you don’t provide information, you leave all of us to assume the worst.”

Over the course of a few weeks, Frank was able to get in contact with a Google representative. One piece of information was that the project was unconfirmed at this moment and is dependent on various factors. Additionally, this proposed project is going to use air cooling technology making water use minimal, adding that Google will be replenishing all water used on site and paying 100% of power/infrastructure costs.

One important note to take away from Google’s response to Frank is that “Google works collaboratively with the community” and planned to meet with county officials. A county commissioner meeting was held on April 27, 2026. On the agenda, officials were set to discuss Project Raptor (the Three Way Road data center project). The center is expected to be a $1 Billion capital investment to the community.

During that meeting, Commissioner Todd Herring expressed concern after Randy Jackson, the County Judge, requested to have the conversation in open session, but was denied due to state law. Herring shared issues with the company’s strategy as they were learning information about the data center through Frank’s Facebook posts and not from Google. He said that they have been getting outlandish accusations due to the amount of secrecy that’s taken place.

“I, for one, am sick and tired of taking it on the chin for something that I have no recollection and no control over,” Herring said. “I’m about sick of it.”

Herring went on to say that if the project failed, the company could move on to another county. However, he is staying in Archer County and speaking for the people that live there. He said that the lack of transparency has made it pretty difficult in getting answers to the people.

At the following commissioners court meeting, on May 11, county officials went into executive session to start discussing the possibility of a tax abatement. Going back to the appeal of county living is that there are much less restrictions on what you can do with your land. This is a main reason why data centers have been targeting rural county areas. In the interview with Frank, he stated that counties having less authority than cites has been a concern. However, he said that this is balanced in the fact that people don’t want to be told what to do with their land, calling it a double edged sword.

“People move into counties because they want to do what they want to do,” Frank said. “The vast majority of people that I’m aware of, don’t want county commissioners being able to get involved in what types of properties can be built.”

One of the largest selling points of data centers is typically the amount of money that would be invested in the community. For example, school districts would receive a large increase in tax revenue if a $1 Billion data center was built. According to Frank, school districts are not permitted to give tax abatements, so all of the money would still go to the district. However, counties can give those tax abatements, and get a small payment from the facilitators in replacement of the yearly taxes. According to Frank, giving this tax abatement gives county officials a small form of local control. The decision behind a tax abatement can also be a double-edged sword itself. The county can either not have a say in the building and get the taxes which will undoubtedly benefit the county, or sacrifice the majority of the funds for some say in the development.

While Atchison and Lindemann were appreciative of Rep. Frank’s efforts to provide a few answers for the Archer County community, it wasn’t enough to satisfy them. They said that Archer County isn’t hurting for money. Atchison expressed that the risk of a potential data center far outweighs the potential money involved.

While there are frameworks put in place for general water and power usage, both say the concerns span beyond the utility usage. They say there are multiple forms of pollution that include light, groundwater and noise.

“By the time they figure all this out, it’s going to be too late,” Lindemann said.

Even Rep. Frank admitted he wouldn’t want a data center being in his backyard. Since Texas opened itself up for businesses for the data center boom, the legislature hasn’t been in session. Meanwhile, community members such as Atchison and Lindemann are encouraging people to reach out to their commissioners. As previously stated, the county commissioners are currently in talks of a potential tax abatement, but there’s no word on what that could entail.

County officials say they’re open to economic development as long as it’s done right. However, they’re weary as there hasn’t been much communication between the developers and the commissioners.

Dark Roast Report will be keeping track of the proposed Three Way Road project