Committed to Banning Large Data Centers
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 3:50 pm
Colleagues,
The proliferation of data centers due to AI and cloud computing poses a significant risk to our local community, our resources, and our environment. The five of us are committed to ensuring that Austin does not allow a single large, “hyperscale” data center within the City limits, and we invite all of you to join us in making this commitment.
This week, we will be discussing and taking action to initiate specific regulations for Data Centers within City Code. This process is necessary before we can impose a formal ban on data centers that are larger than the small-scale facilities used by the University of Texas, banks, hospitals, and other local organizations. We want the public to understand that although Council is initiating Code amendments this week, this process will not allow any large data centers within our City.
We will use the Work Session on Tuesday to make our intention clear regarding data center policy, including our intention to be as aggressive as possible in preventing large facilities from being built or expanded within Austin. We invite all of our colleagues to join us for a press conference immediately following. Given the significant community interest and regional implications of this topic, we want to elevate the work of our Council on this important issue.
In Community,
CM Fuentes
CM Velasquez
CM Alter
CM Siegel
CM Qadri
The proliferation of data centers due to AI and cloud computing poses a significant risk to our local community, our resources, and our environment. The five of us are committed to ensuring that Austin does not allow a single large, “hyperscale” data center within the City limits, and we invite all of you to join us in making this commitment.
This week, we will be discussing and taking action to initiate specific regulations for Data Centers within City Code. This process is necessary before we can impose a formal ban on data centers that are larger than the small-scale facilities used by the University of Texas, banks, hospitals, and other local organizations. We want the public to understand that although Council is initiating Code amendments this week, this process will not allow any large data centers within our City.
We will use the Work Session on Tuesday to make our intention clear regarding data center policy, including our intention to be as aggressive as possible in preventing large facilities from being built or expanded within Austin. We invite all of our colleagues to join us for a press conference immediately following. Given the significant community interest and regional implications of this topic, we want to elevate the work of our Council on this important issue.
In Community,
CM Fuentes
CM Velasquez
CM Alter
CM Siegel
CM Qadri