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Amazon Web Services Ends Data Center Project in Hood County
Amazon Web Services announced on September 20, 2026 that they would not build a large data center in Hood County near Comanche Peak Power Plant. 60 Minutes noted that their decision was due to local resistance to tax abatements. AWS wanted a 90% property tax abatement for 30 years. The original project was for a data center in Hood County and another in Somervell County. AWS will continue with the Somervell data center, since Somervell County bowed to their request. Keep in mind that data centers already enjoy a
10 - year moratorium passed in 2013 on sales taxes from the State of Texas' 6.25% rate.
The above information has interesting points to consider. First, the “local resistance”
refers to citizens that took the time to attend Commissioner’s Court on many occasions.
A significant number of these citizens spoke repeatedly about the need to reject tax abatements. The Pacifico Spunky representative spoke in Commissioners Court about the “undue political influence”. Second, you can see how data centers play the game.
We encourage you to listen to the 60 Minutes interview with Hood County Commissioner Dave Eagle (Timestamp 9:03) to understand how these companies operate. Third, and most important, you can see how citizen involvement can result in stopping these projects.
We can’t give up!
