HILL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — A Texas data center developer has filed a federal lawsuit against Hill County officials for $100 million due to a moratorium blocking data centers.
Sources provided 25 News with a copy of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues the moratorium is illegal under state law — and argues that officials who voted for it knew it before they cast their votes.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of RCM Hill, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, on Wednesday.
The lawsuit seeks to have the Hill County Green Energy and Data Center Moratorium declared void and its enforcement blocked immediately.
RCM Hill is asking the court for:
- A declaration that the moratorium is ultra vires, void from the moment it was adopted, and unenforceable
- A preliminary injunction blocking enforcement while the case proceeds
- A permanent injunction after final judgment
- Just compensation for what it characterizes as a regulatory taking under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
- Damages under federal civil rights law
- Additional relief under multiple provisions of the Texas Constitution, including claims for inverse condemnation, impairment of contract, violation of due course of law, and retroactive legislation
The complaint estimates potential damages to the company in excess of $100 million.
Named as defendants are Hill County, County Judge Shane Brassell, and Commissioners Jim Holcomb and Larry Crumpton. The lawsuit says these three elected officials voted in favor of the moratorium.
RCM Hill says it spent more than 16 months and invested millions on a planned 1,235-megawatt data center planned to sit on 800 acres in an unincorporated area of Hill County.
The company says it also conducted extensive due diligence on the site, including environmental, biological, wetland, water, fiber, gas, and power generation studies, and independently confirmed the site is located in an unincorporated area of Hill County, outside any municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
This is a developing story and 25 News will continue to follow through on this story once we know more information.
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