EL PASO, Tx., June 9, 2026: The El Paso City Council is set to discuss and possibly vote on ending the controversial META 380 Agreement that the city council agreed to in 2023. Ongoing community concerns about water usage and pressure on the electrical grid led the city council to vote on developing a policy to limit giving incentives to future datacenter developments in the city last month.
Water concerns around datacenters have not stopped datacenter developers from building in drought-stricken communities. About two-thirds of the datacenters currently under construction are being developed in the country’s driest areas. In Texas, two of the largest new datacenters under development could account for around 9% of the total water usage in the state by 2040.
Today, the city council will discuss whether to begin discussions with META to terminate the Northeast datacenter project by ending the tax incentive 380 Agreement. The agenda item, proposed by city representatives Josh Acevedo and Lily Limón was put on the agenda because of “significant public concern regarding utility affordability, water resources,” and other concerns, including “contractual enforceability and governmental immunity.”
Governmental Immunity
Governmental immunity refers to the legal doctrine that protects federal, state and local governments from being sued for civil damages. This is sometimes referred to as sovereign immunity. Generally, META would not be allowed to sue the City of El Paso should the city council choose to end the 380 Agreement under the doctrine of sovereign immunity…