Overview
- The Town of Westlake is reviewing plans for a roughly 1.1 million-square-foot data center campus on land along the Keller city line that would place some Keller homes about 506 feet from the nearest building.
- Dozens of Keller residents and members of a nearby Buddhist monastery have packed meetings to oppose the project, citing concerns about noise, health impacts, loss of neighborhood tranquility, and falling property values.
- Because the site lies entirely inside Westlake limits and sits in a Planned Development District that allows data centers by right, Keller officials say they lack formal authority to stop approvals and are instead raising residents’ issues with Westlake.
- Westlake and the developer say the project meets local noise and safety standards, will include landscaping buffers, water-recycling measures, and a funded Oncor substation, and is projected to generate roughly $5 million a year in tax revenue during the first decade.
- Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT on Monday to audit proposed data-center grid connections, introducing state-level scrutiny that could affect timing and approvals for the Westlake project.