Round Rock Edition | February 2026

Round Rock officials weigh neighborhood compatibility for Skybox data center From the cover

The big picture

1 Skybox (2 campuses) 2 Sabey Data Centers - Austin 3 Switch: The Rock 4 Blueprint (2 campuses) 5 Power Infrastructure Partners/ Savannah Development - Data Center 6 Amazon data center 7 Approved data center 8 Colovore 9 Riot Platforms Inc. 10 Data Foundry (2 campuses) 11 Thin-nology | Austin Colocation Data Center 12 Element Critical Data Center - Austin 13 LightEdge (2 campuses) 14 CyrusOne Austin Data Center III Where the data centers are Several data centers are in progress in the Austin metro.

Jarell

Round Rock

LOUIS HENNA BLVD.

If approved, the Round Rock Skybox data center would be one of at least seven conrmed data centers in various stages of development in Central Texas, including two in Pugerville and two in Hutto. Dave Porter, executive director of the Williamson County Economic Development Partnership, said location along the I-35 technology corridor and proximity to companies such as Dell Technologies and Nvidia are powerful draws for data center developers and chip manufacturers. While the area is known for technology industry activity, Porter says its future may be that of an “AI corridor.” “I think what is conducive is a pro-business environment, which Williamson County is,” Porter said. “We have lots of land available, and then you have the workforce to go with it. So those three components really are a win-win-win for Williamson County.”

DELL WAY

Georgetown

NEW MEISTER LN.

Pugerville

Taylor

Rockdale

Hutto

Austin

Pugerville

MONTOPOLIS DR.

Cele

130 TOLL

290

MOPAC

183

SMITH SCHOOL RD.

SOURCE: DATACENTERMAP.COMCOMMUNITY IMPACT

The discussion

In their words

How data center electric infrastructure works

Mark Noonan, senior vice president of the east for Sabey Data Centers, said Sabey has worked to be a transparent community partner and good steward of resources. “There has been a lot in the news about some of these bigger projects that have tried to go in the dark of night, being very quiet about who it is, [using] project names and not engaging the community,” Noonan said. “We’re the opposite.” Noonan said Sabey did not receive much push- back when it entered the community nearby. Haynes Strader, chief development officer for Skybox, said the Round Rock facility is the compa- ny’s first to receive significant opposition.

Marshall Dungan said he learned of the Skybox proposal through his homeowners association, characterizing the city’s effort to engage residents as “lackluster.” He also said he’s skeptical of the benefit tax dollars generated by the project would have, as well as the financial impact of any needed electri- cal infrastructure or increased usage by Skybox. “Skybox is getting a great deal and the people who are giving them that great deal are doing it at the cost of the actual residents around it,” Dungan said. Pamela Oldham shared similar concerns. She suggested that the city implement a moratorium on data centers until an ordinance with “commu- nity-first safeguards” could be created. The city reached out to the nearby HOA, posted signage and held public meetings regarding the rezoning proposal. The state requires cities to notify residents within 200 feet from the property, and the city of Round Rock expanded its notifica- tions to 325 feet. Representatives of Skybox and the regional power delivery company say the proposed develop- ment would not have the impacts to health, water and electric utilities residents have highlighted. Armando Perez, a spokesperson for Oncor Elec- tric Delivery, said the introduction of a data center is unlikely to result in rate increases for residents,

Customer responsibility: Large industrial and data center customers frequently self-fund the construction and operation of their own substations. Cost: Oncor’s different rate classes are based on usage type and service voltage. Costs incurred by a specific rate class stay in that group. SB 6: The Senate bill requires large energy users to fund grid upgrades and increases regulatory oversight.

SOURCE: ONCOR ELECTRIC DELIVERY/COMMUNITY IMPACT

as the company separates customers based on rate classes. The peak statewide demand of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is now about 85 GW. The grid operator expects that to nearly double in a few years, largely led by data centers. In response to the data center rush, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 6 this year to enact new standards for customers requesting to connect 75 MW or more. While some facilities use different cooling methods that require more water, the pro- posed Skybox center would use closed-loop cooling, which would require about 20,000 gallons of water to charge. City staff said this is equivalent to the annual water usage of about 15 single-family homes.

Noonan explained the role a data center like Sabey plays in generating local property tax revenue, as well as providing high-paying jobs.

Water usage: 2 million gallons annually

City property tax revenue generated: $800,000

Permanent jobs created: 35 to 40

Construction jobs created: 200

SOURCE: MARK NOONAN, CITY OF ROUND ROCK/COMMUNITY IMPACT

COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM