San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wants tougher oversight of data centers – San Antonio Current

San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wants tougher oversight of data centers  San Antonio Current

Jones is seeking support for a proposal that would require every data center be approved by City Council on a case-by-case basis. San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is gearing up for another City Hall battle — this time, over data centers. Data centers are among voters’ top concerns heading into the 2026 midterms. A recent survey by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs shows that 79% of Texans support limiting the number of the massive computing facilities that can be built in the state. “If there’s anything I know, it’s that people in our community don’t want to live next to two things: an ICE facility and a data center,” Jones told the Current during a sit-down interview this week.

More than 30 data centers are already operating in San Antonio, with another 40 proposed to come online in coming years. However, the rules governing who can build the energy- and water-intensive sites inside city limits are largely nonexistent. That could change Thursday, when council is set to consider two different approaches to regulating data centers. The first, recommended by the city’s Zoning Commission, would allow data centers to build if they meet a standard set of requirements. Those would include restricting construction to industrial, commercial or manufacturing zones outside the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. Operators