Google Announces New Data Center in Wilbarger County

Google has announced that they are expanding their longstanding presence in Texas with a new data center under construction in Wilbarger County with agreements to support local energy resilience, anchored by a focus on water security and energy affordability.

The data center will use advanced air-cooling technology, limiting water consumption to only critical campus operations like kitchens. It will be co-located with — or built alongside — new clean power developed by AES.

To date, Google has contracted to add more than 7,800 megawatts (MW) of net-new energy generation and capacity to the Texas electricity grid. In November, Google announced a $30 million Energy Impact Fund to scale initiatives to accelerate energy affordability, home and public school weatherization upgrades, energy efficiency and energy workforce development across the state.

“We are thrilled to finally be able to welcome Google and AES to Wilbarger County,” said Wilbarger County Judge Greg Tyra. “This project represents a major opportunity for our community to participate in the expanding global digital economy. We have worked closely with the Google and AES teams for the last couple of years to ensure this development would bring meaningful growth, economic benefits, and stability to Wilbarger County for years to come, that might have otherwise passed us by.”

City of Vernon Mayor Pam Gosline stated, “AES has taken the time to work in and understand our community over the past several years. This kind of thoughtful collaboration and engagement makes a difference, and we look forward to continued coordination with AES and Google on this exciting announcement.”