Fort Worth Puts the Gate on Zoning, Not the Grid

Fort Worth's city council voted on August 11 to begin the process for a temporary 90-day ban on new data center developments, to create an 11-member advisory commission, and to amend the city code so projects must prove they have permission to connect to the Texas grid ^[3][4]. For anyone siting capacity in North Texas, the binding constraint has quietly moved from megawatts available to a municipal file room.

The moratorium vote was unanimous; the commission passed 10-1, as did the Chapter 14 amendment ^[3][4]. The stated concerns are water usage, noise, and impacts on nearby communities ^[1], and the specific items the city says it will examine are noise, mechanical infrastructure, building scale, water supply, and land-use compatibility ^[14]. The trigger was procedural: several council members brought the moratorium forward after the zoning commission voted against amending the city's data center zoning rules ^[2].

The pause itself is slower and weaker than the headline. Texas law bars a city from enforcing a moratorium until leaders meet and produce written evidence that existing regulations are insufficient to prevent harm to welfare, public health and safety ^[7], so it does not take effect on passage ^[7]. The council's provisional timeline has the commission reporting at a November 3 work session, a first public hearing on November 10, a second hearing and proposed ordinance, and the 90-day moratorium starting on February 16, 2027, with a possible extension to August 15 ^[9]. A Texas moratorium runs 90 days, can be extended once by 90 more on sufficient evidence, and then cannot be repeated for two years ^[8]. Projects with zoning applications filed before the moratorium are exempt, and for existing or in-development sites, compliance with any new rules would be voluntary ^[11].

The durable change is Chapter 14. Data center projects must now show proof of approval to connect to the grid from the Public Utility Commission of Texas or ERCOT at multiple stages of development ^[5], a requirement that follows Governor Greg Abbott's directive that state regulators audit projects seeking grid connection ^[6]. That converts a state-level queue position into a local permitting document. A developer can hold land, capital, and a utility conversation and still be unable to advance a file.

The advisory body is where the substance gets written. The Data Center & Infrastructure Commission was proposed as 11 members led by Dr. Mike Slattery, director of the Institute for Environmental Studies at Texas Christian University, drawing on environmental and resource management, economic development, utilities, data center operations, and Fort Worth residents ^[12]. It covers electricity and energy, water and local resources, land use and neighborhood impacts, and economic development and fiscal impacts, and is advisory only ^[13]. Regulations can be adopted at any point in the process if the evidence supports them and the council agrees ^[10], which means the operative date may well arrive before February 2027.

Scale explains the attention. Data Center Map lists 537 data centers in Texas and 253 across Dallas-Fort Worth ^[15], roughly 47 percent of the state's total in one metro ^[16]. Dallas is weighing a moratorium of its own ^[17].