A small town about 5 miles north of downtown Waco, Texas is the proposed site for a large-scale data center project and like those proposed in Oklahoma, it has its supporters and its detractors.
Investment firm Infrakey wants to build the data center in Lacy Lakeview and its project is valued at $10 billion on the 520 acre site. Infrakey, a data center company, was only formed in March and within a few months, the firm signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lacy Lakeview City Council.
The Texas Tribune reports the company’s online material shows a scale of industrial development and investment unmatched in McLennan County’s history: acres of computer hardware, substations and a 1.2-gigawatt gas-fired plant capable of powering about 300,000 homes.
Nearby residents are not totally supportive and one owner of a pasture adjacent to the site told the Tribune, “I think I can speak for a lot of us that it’s one of those things, where, if this does go through, I think we’ll be selling out and moving out farther. I haven’t met anybody that’s real excited about it. I’ll put it that way.”
However, Lacy Lakeview Mayor Charles Wilson is a big supporter, saying the tax base of the quantity of the project is a paradigm-changer for the town.
“We’re obviously keen on seeing it get done.” Lacy Lakeview currently has a tax base of $649 million.
Click here for Texas Tribune