Data center coverage in Temple, Texas
4 headlines archived for Temple — no documented moratorium or ban on file here yet. See the moratorium tracker for towns that have taken formal action, or the full story tracker to browse every place we're following.
The project on the table
Meta Temple —
Operator: Meta · Owner: Meta · Size: 152 MW
Chip types: B300. Epoch AI estimates ~152 MW.
Next: Already operating — the leverage now is enforcement: noise and water conditions, tax revenue tracking, and any expansion filing, which reopens the record.
Latest in the record
- 2026-08-05 — Texas Scorecard reports Meta declined to specify exact water and power requirements for the Temple facility; community opposition voiced on Meta's Facebook page with commenters stating they do not want the data center. · source
- 2026-07-30 — Spectrum News reports the Temple facility is Meta's first AI-optimized data center globally to go online; Meta's Bradley Davis says it uses a closed-loop liquid cooling system requiring zero water for most of the year; Joe Royer of Temple Stands Together community opposition group raised concerns about water consumption, power demand, and heat island effects. · source
- 2026-07-22 — Meta officially opens its $1.2 billion AI-optimized data center on Industrial Boulevard in Temple; the 760,000-square-foot, two-building campus supports nearly 100 operations jobs and employed over 1,200 trade workers at peak construction. · source
- 2026-07-22 — At the opening event Meta announced a $400,000 grant as part of $1.7 million in total direct funding to Bell County-area schools and nonprofits, plus $8 million in local public water and wastewater improvements. · source
- 2025-04-04 — GovTech reports Minnesota-based Oppidan Investment Co. purchased 10 acres from the Temple Economic Development Corp. in March 2025 and plans a $31 million, 61,554-square-foot data center at 2325 Eberhardt Road directly across from Meta's campus. · source
- 2023-10-23 — Construction Dive reports JE Dunn resumed construction on Meta's Temple data center after the December 2022 pause; Meta says the AI-optimized redesign is 31% less expensive and takes half the time to build; completion shifted from 2025 to 2026. · source
Full dated timeline on the project tracker.
Source. Read 2026-08-14.
What's been reported
4 stories tracked since 2026-08-16 across 3 outlets. 3× A community is pushing back on a nearby data center. 1× Water use for cooling is straining the local supply. Most recent: “Rowan’s $4.2 billion Temple data center campus advances as water, power questions persist” (The Killeen Daily Herald, 2026-09-13).
- Rowan’s $4.2 billion Temple data center campus advances as water, power questions persist
- Meta awards grants to Temple College as it faces public backlash for its data centers
- Temple approves new data center rules as residents push for stronger protections
- Temple data centers respond to Gov. Abbott’s new standards to protect local communities
Automated news aggregation, not human-verified — follow each link to the original outlet. Part of the story tracker, 4 headlines archived.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in Texas.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- Texas briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Part of the story tracker — automated news aggregation, CC BY 4.0.