The evidence layer

Does anyone actually have the complete data?

There are credible studies on electricity, water, cooling, economics, rates, land, noise, taxation, and infrastructure. There is not one authoritative source that answers: is this particular data center a good deal for this particular community?

That gap is the product. Not a pro-data-center site. Not an anti-data-center site. An evidence layer.

Method, not a copy-paste

What would a San Antonio JLARC look like?

Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission studied data centers as a multi-dimensional public problem: economy, tax, jobs, power, water, land, noise, community. Independent modeling plus stakeholder interviews. We reuse the categories. We do not import Virginia's conclusions into Bexar County.

Economy and employment
JLARC estimated large statewide GDP and labor effects, with most benefits in construction rather than operations.
No equivalent independent multi-sector study for Bexar County exists in this dataset.
Tax revenue and incentives
Later JLARC incentive work found data centers were the largest beneficiary of state incentive dollars over a decade.
Term sheets are not compiled in one public table.
Electricity, generation, transmission
Independent forecast: unconstrained demand could double in ~10 years; building even half that generation/transmission is hard.
CPS peak-growth revision and ERCOT’s queue are the local/regional facts. No JLARC-style independent grid model for CPS territory is in this tool.
Water
Examined as a community and resource impact alongside energy.
SAWS briefings exist. Site meters do not.
Land use
Siting, locality impacts, historic and natural resources were in scope.
UDC amendments are under discussion as of the Aug 25, 2026 council session.
Noise and neighborhood
Community interviews sat next to engineering — different kinds of evidence, both kept.
Testimony exists. Property-line measurements in this dataset do not.

San Antonio evidence matrix

Click a question. Known, unknown, industry claim, community claim, independent reading. Missing information is the feature.

Partial data

Will residential electricity rates increase?

What we know: CPS residential comparison rate was 12.9¢/kWh (TTM to Jan 2026 at 1,000 kWh). A June 2026 board discussion cited a $191.77 average monthly bill. Peak-demand growth was revised from 115 MW/year to 260 MW/year. LBNL’s 2019–2025 national work found grid investment, gas prices, disasters, and policy as primary price drivers — not a single data-center formula.
What we don't know: The tariff that will actually apply to each large load; how much of new generation and transmission is assigned to the customer vs the class; the 2027–2030 rate path under a high-load case.
Best source class: LBNL large-load literature; EIA; utility rate cases
Local source: CPS Energy board books; PUC filings
Industry claim: Large loads can lower average rates by spreading fixed costs if they pay their way.
Community claim: Households will pay for substations and generation built for campuses.
Independent reading: Both can be true depending on the tariff. The tariff is the evidence.
Last updated: 2026-09-04

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Data last checked 2026-09-04 · Current public data is a snapshot, not a live meter

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