00:00Homes have already been bulldozed. Trees are being ripped out everywhere.
00:03People from out of state are calling us, begging, you know, trying to secure housing, sight unseen.
00:08How the hell is anybody supposed to compete with that? You know, I don't have $86,000 in my pocket
00:12to just...
00:13They're not going to tell you exactly how much water they're going to take from us.
00:17They can project you a number to make you feel happy.
00:19Are we going to be stuck with shells of buildings in five years, ten years?
00:23They're just sitting there idle and coming in.
00:25I understand we got Republicans and Democrats and so forth.
00:28But we've got to come together and figure this out, and that is the truth.
00:32Well, I really appreciate everybody making time.
00:35I know Abilene has really been an epicenter of this conversation,
00:38so I'm really just here to listen and learn about exactly what's happening
00:43and what we can do to try to rein in these data centers all over the state,
00:48but particularly here in Abilene.
00:50You all bring such valuable experiences to the table,
00:54and I know we've got folks across the political spectrum.
00:57We've got Democrats, Independents, and Republicans here.
01:00We've got small business owners.
01:02We've got social workers and community leaders.
01:05This issue goes beyond Democrats and Republicans.
01:07It is not just one side.
01:09Issues around taxation and affordability, accountability,
01:13are things that I think all of the community members should be concerned about.
01:18I don't know that a single person that I know hasn't been affected in some way, shape, or form.
01:23It's really important to have somebody like James here because it quite honestly doesn't feel like anybody else cares.
01:28People should pick their heads up and pay attention.
01:31They should be involved, regardless of your political affiliation.
01:35I think James really did listen to everybody and took stories to heart.
01:41I think what would be helpful for me is to start off with just kind of telling me, you know,
01:45where we've been,
01:46so then we can kind of talk about where we can go in the future.
01:50But I know there are three data center projects here.
01:56Is that right?
01:57Maybe you could start with telling us, you know, how all this kind of started to become such an issue.
02:04We live by Stargate, so off of 24-04.
02:08And this is the big one, right?
02:10The big one.
02:10Okay.
02:11Yeah.
02:12Yeah.
02:12And at first it was like, okay, like what are they doing out here?
02:17And it felt like nothing was discussed.
02:20Like we technically live in Jones County.
02:22So whatever happens in Taylor County, we don't really get to say what happens anyway.
02:27It just felt like it was just sprung on us.
02:30No discussion happened with, we didn't get to vote on this, nothing like that.
02:33Yeah.
02:34And there's people that have had to sell their homes because of that.
02:40And homes have already been bulldozed.
02:42Trees are being ripped out everywhere.
02:44You see wildlife, like at one point there was just, it felt like carcasses everywhere.
02:50Because they were getting their habitat uprooted.
02:55And if anybody knows that if they're driving by the data center, it is dangerous.
02:59They pull out in front of you.
03:02They do not stop.
03:04And just like I was telling Casey, an ambulance came by today and nobody pulled over.
03:08Like, and it's a two lane road.
03:09So it's very small road and you can't play chicken on it.
03:13Right.
03:13Right.
03:13And a big gravel truck threw gravel all over my vehicle so much that it broke, like shattered my driver's
03:24side window.
03:25Wow.
03:25And the psycho I am, did research and found every single phone number, email, whoever I could get a hold
03:33of at that company because we knew nothing about it.
03:36Right.
03:38And I apparently bugged enough people that the site manager at the time came out with cash and said, here,
03:47here's to fix your window.
03:48But this is going to be the last time that we help anybody like this.
03:51Oh my gosh.
03:52We need mutually beneficial coexistence.
03:55Right now, it feels like the citizens of Abilene and the community are getting the short end of the stick.
04:03My son woke up the other night and looked out the window.
04:05He goes, Mom, is it still daytime?
04:07And I said, nobody.
04:09It's like 11 o'clock at night.
04:10He's like, why is it so bright outside?
04:12And we open up the windows and it's the light from the AI center.
04:15Crazy.
04:16So, I mean, it affects everybody.
04:18So, I mean, I'm sure this is kind of everyone else's experience.
04:22Tell us, you know, about how this first kind of came up for y'all.
04:26Very quickly, like, people were getting, essentially, like, price out of their homes.
04:32It went from traffic to price out of their homes within about two months.
04:36I was renting at the time.
04:38And it was a studio apartment with no kitchen and a shower that was about three inches above my head.
04:44And I'm not a very tall person.
04:46So, that was $700 a month.
04:50And it was in somebody's backyard.
04:53And I was like, okay, well, you know, I started my own business.
04:57And I took it on the chin and stayed in a $600 RV for about a year.
05:03And I said, that is what a business owner does.
05:05If that's what you're going to do, you've got to struggle.
05:08Worked up, got out of that, was able to move back into Abilene.
05:12And from the year and a half that I had done that and moved back into Abilene, I went from
05:18paying $700 a month for a one-bedroom apartment here to $700 a month for a place that doesn't have
05:24a kitchen sink.
05:25And we put an offer in on a house.
05:28It was two days on the market.
05:30We went first-time homebuyer.
05:32She's a veteran.
05:33Have all of these, you know, things that were allowed.
05:37And three days on, two days on the market, it had a 50% down payment already down on it.
05:43And it was a one-bedroom.
05:43It was a two-bedroom, one-bath.
05:45Wow.
05:45And how the hell is anybody supposed to compete with that?
05:49You know, I don't have $86,000 in my pocket to just...
05:52The displacement of community members because of increasing rent.
05:58They're asking for $1,300, $1,400 a month.
06:02A really good friend of mine, that his rent was actually doubled.
06:05His house was doubled.
06:06And he was like, well, I'm like, what are you going to do?
06:08He's like, I have to pay it because I have nothing else to do.
06:11I have to.
06:12And is that, I know we've got realtors here.
06:15I mean, is that what child's...
06:17Yeah, so my brokerage has a property management site, and I show most of our reals' properties.
06:21So last spring and summer, it was very normal.
06:25And then it was like this moment hit where suddenly people from out of state are calling us, begging, you
06:30know, trying to secure housing, sight unseen.
06:33And I remember there was a duplex that we had a really nice new construction, South the Town duplex.
06:38It was running for $1,800 a month.
06:40And we had so many people applied.
06:43And I remember somebody called and said, I'll give you $2,100 a month if you pick me.
06:47Wow.
06:48And I thought, holy cow, I've never seen anybody offer an above rent.
06:52Right, yeah.
06:52Well, then you think, like, the next month comes.
06:55Well, when that other side of that duplex comes up, what you're going to rent for.
06:57Right.
06:58I see our local families, military college, you know, just regular householders can't compete because they don't have as much
07:05money up front.
07:06And then, like you said, put down a house or even a rental.
07:08My personal position is that I am pro-growth economic development.
07:13I'm pro-technology.
07:14I'm pro-community growth.
07:15I'm of the opinion that if you're not growing, you're dying.
07:18There's no other choice.
07:19We keep getting told that the GDP of Abilene has grown.
07:22But a regular person that's either not in construction or not in the real estate market or not an electrician
07:28is not feeling that growth.
07:30It is making our most vulnerable communities more vulnerable.
07:33I want to acknowledge that there's growing pains, right?
07:36I mean, those of you with children, your kids grow up quickly, and they go through seasons of growing pains
07:40in our community.
07:40I think it's going through that, too, and that's really hard to see past that.
07:45The answer that we all get is it's short-term pain.
07:47But I'm studying social work.
07:49I work with social workers.
07:51That type of shock to your system, to your life, being turned upside down like that, is not short-term.
07:56That's long-term trauma that takes a long time to get over.
07:59And quite frankly, in this state, there's not a lot of attention put to social safety nets in the first
08:05place.
08:05Whether there is a lack of transparency or there is a perceived lack of transparency, it's the same if you
08:10don't have all the information.
08:12We're also seeing permanent Abilene residents being priced out of their homes.
08:17So temporary residents can take their place.
08:22Our almost 80-year-old receptionist in our own brokerage just got priced out of her own apartment.
08:27When she's 80 years old, what is she going to do?
08:30So, I mean, it's going to take the rest of her savings for her to live out the rest of
08:34her life if she wants to stay in the apartment that she's in.
08:36So if my electricity bill goes up, or if we give them more energy, what are they giving back directly
08:42to our community?
08:43Are they building beautiful facilities like this?
08:46Are our teachers' salaries going to go up?
08:50Yeah, I think those are such good questions.
08:51And I think you're bringing up the tension between the need for economic growth, the need for jobs, the need
08:59for technology,
09:00and for Texas to stay a leader in technology and innovation, and all these costs, you know,
09:08all of these pressures that are put on communities, and the lack of, you know, input that, you know,
09:13often feels like these data centers are showing up without, you know, the consent of those who live there.
09:19So I would love to hear what folks think about the balance between those two things,
09:24given that y'all are living through it right now.
09:28I am the Republican in the room, okay?
09:30So I didn't come here to endorse, run campaign ad, we've all went through that, you know that, I am
09:35the Republican.
09:36So for the canvas, you know that, okay?
09:40As a small business owner, when you see these data centers come into Adelaide,
09:43and I feel everybody's paying more rent, I've got employees that it's doubled.
09:49I've been to people's house and worked on their houses where they've actually moved into their camper
09:53because people pay them $6,000 to live there a month, and then you have 10 people in there.
09:58I've seen this, okay?
09:59Now as an employer, you have employees.
10:02You have data center people come into town, I eat with them all the time,
10:06go, you see them at every restaurant Adelaide.
10:08Good people, and I've never had a problem with any of them, okay?
10:12But when they come, they start talking about, you pay your employee,
10:15you just don't average $25 traveling, medium, that's good enough,
10:18they can make a living three years ago, okay?
10:21You've got a guy come, sits beside him, eat lunch.
10:24He's making $65,000, he persuades them to go there, okay?
10:28Small businesses are losing employees to that, okay?
10:31And I'm going to tell y'all what's going to happen.
10:33It's going to be like Miller and Miller lesson with oil.
10:35This thing's projected, when does it's projected to end?
10:38About three years.
10:39Well, yeah, the bill that was three years.
10:41We brought 5,000 extra people into Adelaide, Texas.
10:43That's just the number I'm counting up, okay?
10:45So you've got them here.
10:47They're making this kind of money.
10:48So whenever the data centers leave, what are they going to do here in Abilene, Texas?
10:53Okay?
10:53They're not going to make that money.
10:56Their way of living, they've adjusted to, though,
10:58they're not going to adjust back down to $25.
11:00I can assure you that.
11:02I understand we've got Republicans and Democrats and so forth,
11:05but we've got to come together and figure this out, and that is the truth.
11:08Okay?
11:09And Abilene's full of common sense, okay?
11:11I do believe out there at this data center, there's a ton of workers.
11:1790% of those people can tell us actually what's going on.
11:20They're not going to tell you exactly how much water they're going to take from us.
11:24They can project you a number to make you feel happy.
11:27Okay?
11:28They're going to do that.
11:29They're going to tell you about electricity.
11:30I'm sorry I know you're the Democratic guy,
11:34but I'm just telling you what's going to happen here in Abilene, Texas.
11:37I just feel like this is a runaway train.
11:41Right now, we're second in the country under Virginia,
11:43and they say we're going to double the number in the state of Texas.
11:46So naturally, we always have to be ahead,
11:48and I think they're not considering the people.
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