Leon County is not facing a single project.

We are facing at least four proposed data center and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, with strong indications that more could follow.

That distinction matters.

Why this moment is different for Leon County

One large industrial project is hard enough to evaluate on its own.

Multiple large industrial projects — especially when they are:

  • power-intensive
  • water-intensive
  • long-lived
  • and regionally connected

…create cumulative impacts that no single agenda item or court vote can fully capture.

This is exactly the kind of situation Chapter 391 planning committees were designed for.

If you haven’t read it yet, start here: 👉 What Is a Texas Chapter 391 Planning Committee?

Emergency services are where the risk becomes real

Leon County fire protection is volunteer-based.

Our volunteer firefighters are experienced, dedicated, and well-trained for:

  • structure fires
  • brush and pasture fires
  • vehicle and farm equipment incidents

But large-scale industrial facilities introduce new and unfamiliar risks, including:

  • high-voltage electrical systems
  • lithium battery storage
  • specialized suppression requirements
  • long-duration fire events

These incidents are not handled with the same tools, training, or tactics used for a house fire or tractor fire.

The equipment and training gap

Handling emergencies at data centers or BESS facilities often requires:

  • specialized protective gear
  • thermal imaging and monitoring equipment
  • foam or alternative suppression systems
  • advanced training for lithium battery and electrical fires

Those upgrades are expensive.

And right now, Leon County does not have the budget to absorb those costs on its own.

That reality has already been acknowledged publicly.

Why this shouldn’t be solved with a PILOT

One suggestion that often comes up is to handle these costs through a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement.

The problem with that approach is subtle but important.

A PILOT:

  • still uses county-controlled money
  • still forces the county to choose between priorities
  • still means public funds are being redirected to mitigate private risk

In other words:

A PILOT shifts the burden — it doesn’t remove it.

If we spend PILOT funds upgrading emergency response just to keep up with industrial risk, that money is not going toward:

  • roads
  • community facilities
  • quality-of-life improvements
  • services that directly benefit residents

Public safety upgrades required because of private projects should not crowd out investments meant for the public.

Why a Chapter 391 committee changes the conversation

A Chapter 391 planning committee does not stop projects by itself.

What it does do is:

  • force regional coordination
  • document cumulative impacts
  • keep emergency services in the conversation early
  • prevent each project from being evaluated in isolation

Instead of asking:

“Can we handle this one project?”

The question becomes:

“What does handling five, ten, or twenty of these look like over time?”

That shift matters.

Preventing “death by a thousand cuts”

Without coordination, it’s easy for each project to sound reasonable on its own:

  • “It’s just one data center.”
  • “It’s just one battery facility.”
  • “It’s just one substation.”
  • “We’ll deal with it later.”

Over time, those individual approvals stack up.

Emergency services, infrastructure, and local resources get stretched — not by one decision, but by many small ones.

A Chapter 391 committee exists to slow that process down and make cumulative impacts visible.

Why timing matters

A planning committee is most effective before everything is locked in.

But it can still matter:

  • while projects are proposed
  • while negotiations are ongoing
  • while future phases and expansions are still uncertain

Even if the first projects move forward, a committee can influence what comes next — and under what conditions.

The bottom line for Leon County

Leon County is being asked to absorb:

  • industrial-scale risk
  • long-term infrastructure impacts
  • emergency response responsibilities

…with volunteer-based services and limited budgets.

A Chapter 391 planning committee won’t solve everything.

But it gives the county a structured way to:

  • plan instead of react
  • coordinate instead of isolate
  • document instead of guess
  • protect public resources instead of constantly playing catch-up

That conversation needs to happen now, not after the next approval.

If you’re interested in learning more about how a Chapter 391 committee works, or how it could apply specifically to Leon County, the explainer linked above is a good place to start.