The San Marcos City Council voted to reject a land use change on Feb. 18, which would have allowed a data center to be constructed southwest of the downtown area. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside to protest the potential construction, and many lined up to speak in the citizen comment section and public hearing portion.
Texas currently hosts 407 data centers, with 52 in the San Antonio area. Data centers demand large amounts of energy, fresh water and land, creating problems for the communities around them. San Marcos, which neighbors San Antonio, denied a data center based on outspoken community voices. San Antonians have the power to block future data centers, but they must use their voices and spirit to advocate against these humanless endeavors.
District 6 City Council Rep. Ric Galvan called for a detailed review of these rapidly expanding centers and their effects. In late 2025, the Governance Committee approved the Council Consideration Request, and the Development Services Department will work with the San Antonio Water System and CPS Energy to begin evaluating the effects San Antonians endure from nearby data centers.
Members of San Antonio leadership recognize the potential harm of data centers and advocate to increase regulation and better their understanding of data centers’ effects. Now, San Antonians must stand alongside their representatives and demand more transparency and greater solutions to data centers.
The San Marcos City Council was asked to rezone the construction site to allow for the building of the center. The city effectively shut down the project by blocking the plan, introducing a potential option for San Antonio: zoning available land to not allow construction of these data centers.
Data centers in Texas generate copious amounts of money for their construction, with the San Antonio area centers garnering over $1 billion in investments. Companies, such as Microsoft, Cyrus One, Cloud HQ and QTS, have snatched any available land to build these — with no signs of stopping. Vantage Data Center is another company lining up to use San Antonio land for these projects, expanding into the San Antonio Westside. Any available land risks being bought out by big-bank corporations and converted into data centers designed to supplement companies’ AI use, unless the city council changes the zoning.
With all these corporations making their mark across the San Antonio horizon, one must wonder whether San Antonio residents’ voices are heard in all of this.
These companies do not need citizens or the City Council’s approval for the construction of these centers, as private land is used to house these AI powerhouses. Companies can just buy up land, start construction, move in and steal resources from the surrounding areas. These corporations do not care about the community around these data centers. They prioritize profit.
San Marcos demonstrated to Texans all over the state, who are lacking resources, that speaking up for oneself accomplishes something. It sounds corny, but communities can halt this AI takeover by using their voices to protest the expansion of data centers. With no action, the community will be left parched, looking out at a horizon lined with data centers.
