LUBBOCK, Texas — The $3.5 billion dollar data center expansion in Dickens County may be one of the first tests of the Texas Legislature’s new regulations on large load electricity use.
Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 6 in 2025, which requires the Public Utility Commission of Texas to create new rules for entities that demand 75 megawatts or more of electricity “in a manner designed to support business development” while minimizing the risk for grid failure.
In January, ERCOT approved the Galaxy facility in Dickens County to use up to 1.6 gigawatts or 1,600 megawatts– of electricity.
“I would be shocked if half of these companies wanting power would get that kind of allocation,” said State Senator Charles Perry. “But most of these companies, they’re going to have a gigawatt back on the meter, meaning on-site.”
One megawatt can power about 200 homes at peak capacity according to ERCOT, meaning a data center using 75 megawatts could power 15,000 homes. That’s about 20x the number of homes in Dickens County.
“When these companies are building out their own power supply, not pulling from the grid, that’s just a decentralized power supply that we’re the beneficiary of as a state,” Perry said. “The ones that are pulling from the grid, they’ve already been figured into the capacity a decade ago.”
The PUCT recently published its draft of the new rules, which require the large load customer to “post financial security in the amount of $100,000 per megawatt” prior to an interconnection study and final connection with ERCOT.
The rules are open to public comment through April 17.
“What I would tell the average person out there is you won’t be responsible for the added utility cost. To caveat that it may be a temporary [increase], and there’s a need for new transmission lines,” Perry said. “It may cause the meter to go up, and it won’t be because of our data centers.”
Perry also said that improving technology is helping data centers be more responsible with water usage.
“We’re in a water deficient area, so we need to be paying attention to how many of these come online and what they look like,” he said. “Properly done, the water usage is not insurmountable.”
A Galaxy spokesperson provided this statement on the project’s water usage:
“Responsible water stewardship has been central to how Helios was designed, and we expect water usage to be relatively minimal. There are several reasons for this. Helios will utilize what is known as a ‘closed loop’ system, such that water within cooling systems for our compute power will be recycled. Beyond this close loop system, the initial phase of Helios is projected to use only around 25,000 gallons per day, roughly the equivalent to irrigating 5-6 acres of farmland. The Helios campus, by comparison, is over 1,500 acres in total. The campus also incorporates rainwater harvesting, further reducing groundwater reliance. Future phases are expected to use even less as designs improve. For all these reasons, impact to local water supply will be minimal. Galaxy remains committed to being a good neighbor and a long-term partner to the community.”
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com.