LACY LAKEVIEW, Texas (KXXV) — Plans for a $10 billion data center in an unincorporated area of McLennan County continue to spark debate among residents, with some continuing to oppose the project while others see it as an economic opportunity.
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The controversy intensified earlier this week when rumors of InfraKey touring the site prompted a protest. Shauna Fenn, who is leading opposition efforts against the future data center in Lacy Lakeview, made her position clear during the demonstration.
"We're here, we're aware and InfraKey has no reason to be here. They need to go," Fenn said.
Like many neighbors, Fenn wants more transparency about the project's details.
"We really haven't gotten any clear, concrete plans of what's going on. Even the mayor of, you know, Lacy Lakeview said it's an ongoing process where they're gonna have to keep asking questions and getting answers because none of, nobody really knows what's going on at this point," Fenn said.
Local leaders are working with InfraKey to get the facility built and annexed into the city. However, not everyone opposes the development.
Mark Ard, who grew up in Lacy Lakeview, believes the data center could benefit the area economically.
"The data center to me represents an opportunity to create further job demand. And then usually what occurs is if there's enough job market, you have housing development that goes right behind that," Ard said.
He questioned those who oppose the project without knowing full details.
"If there's a degree of transparency that residents want to see as a part of that, OK, cool, have that. But to say no from the beginning for something that you don't even know, I think that that's just silly and a little bit behind our time, honestly," Ard said.
25 News reached out to the City of Waco for answers, but Waco's chief of staff said she only had responses to some questions. The city learned about the data center through media reports in November.
The project sits in Waco's jurisdiction but could be annexed by Lacy Lakeview if the property owner exited Waco's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Waco has not been consulted about water supply for the project despite being the mandated provider. The city said the water demand for this project would be "significant."
"The City of Waco became aware of the Infrakey Data Center project when it was first reported in the media in November. Waco had no prior discussions with Infrakey or Lacy Lakeview officials regarding the project.
The property is currently within Waco's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) however, recent state legislation would allow the property owner to exit the ETJ. We are also not currently involved in any conversations about how Lacy Lakeview would annex the property if they did exit Waco’s ETJ.
Regarding water resources, the property is within Waco’s state-mandated water service area (Certificate of Convenience and Necessity). The water demand reported for this project is significant and would require regional coordination and planning. Waco has not been approached about water supply for this project.
Air quality is another important factor that we would want to ensure is considered with the development of gas-powered energy for a project of this scale. Any negative impacts would affect neighboring communities and could impact federal regulations in our region."
An ongoing petition against the data center has gathered more than 2,000 signatures on Change.org.
25 News reached out to InfraKey to schedule an interview, but has not heard back and contacted the City of Lacy Lakeview to speak with the mayor.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
