Parker County Data Center Watch A Nonpartisan Effort to Stop Data Centers in Texas Get Involved

Planned Data Centers

Proposed

Black Mountain Data Center (Parker County site)

Near Weatherford (unincorporated), Parker County

Black Mountain, a Fort Worth-based energy company, purchased more than 2,000 acres in Parker County (assessed at over $57 million by the Parker County Appraisal District) near Pearson Ranch Road and Azle Highway. An affiliate, Fort Worth Power Core LLC, applied to operate five natural-gas turbines at 501 Pearson Ranch Road as backup/bridge power for a potential data center. No data center has been approved here. Parker County commissioners passed a resolution in June 2026 asking the state for help regulating data centers, and the City of Weatherford has said data centers are not an allowed use anywhere in the city — though this site lies outside city limits. Since September 21, 2026, a statewide freeze on state data-center permits applies to projects like this one.

Key facts

Location
Near Weatherford (unincorporated), Parker County
Developer
Black Mountain (CEO Rhett Bennett); power affiliate Fort Worth Power Core LLC
Site size
2,000 acres
Water
Not disclosed for this site. Industry representatives have publicly claimed such facilities "use less water than five households a year on average" — a claim disputed by residents and not specific to this project.

About this location: Approximate location only — near Pearson Ranch Road & Azle Highway (TX-199), roughly 7 miles northeast of downtown Weatherford. The marker is estimated from the described location and the public address of the turbine registration; it is not a surveyed site boundary.

Status timeline

  1. Statewide permit freeze now covers this project

    Governor Abbott directed TCEQ to issue no permits sought by data center projects until ERCOT completes its audit, and directed that no state agency move forward with data-center regulatory approvals. The freeze explicitly covers projects that rely on their own on-site generation rather than grid power.

  2. Public dialogue meeting

    An open-dialogue community meeting was held at the Weatherford Ninth Grade Center auditorium.

  3. Commissioners pass resolution seeking state help

    At a standing-room-only special meeting, the Parker County Commissioners Court passed a resolution asking the state for help regulating data center development. Commissioners said they would prohibit the facilities countywide if they had the authority.

  4. Commissioners take no action

    The Parker County Commissioners Court discussed the project but took no action.

  5. City statement on nearby development

    Weatherford stated it was not notified of the power-generation project before its approval and that the site is outside city limits and city zoning authority.

  6. Weatherford halts data-center zoning change

    The City of Weatherford announced it would not pursue a zoning amendment to permit data centers; they remain not allowed in any city zoning district.

  7. Gas turbine authorization reported

    Fort Worth Power Core LLC was reported to have received TCEQ authorization to operate five natural-gas turbines at 501 Pearson Ranch Road, described in the application as backup/bridge power for a new data center. (Reported by regional news; month only — we were unable to confirm this directly from a TCEQ record.)

In the news

Sources

Community-maintained tracker. Details — especially map locations and dates — are approximate and drawn from public reporting and government notices. Verify with the primary sources before acting. Last updated 2026-10-21. Spot something wrong?