WESLACO, Texas - Willacy County Judge Aurelio ‘Keter’ Guerra has thanked Melisa Gonzales, director of community and economic development at the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council for introducing him to Armstrong County Judge Adam Ensey.
Ensey is overseeing his county’s interactions with Google as the tech giants build a huge data center on 1,300 acres near the small town of Claude.
Guerra had a conversation with Ensey via Zoom.
“It helped a lot. Thank you,” Guerra told Gonzales, at the LRGVDC’s May 2026 board of directors meeting.
Gonzales told the RGG Business Journal that in her conversation with Judge Ensey, the biggest concern of local residents has been increased traffic, not water or energy consumption.
Asked by a fellow board member to elaborate on his Zoom with Ensey,, Guerra said:
“Specifically, as you know, there is a lot of misinformation out there. There are basically three things, water usage, the power that is going to be needed to run of one of these (data centers) and then the environment. I can assure you that from what I have learned thus far, those seem to have been looked at carefully and the water usage is minimal right now.”
Guerra said Ensey told him there have been “some breakthroughs” on the amount of what needed for data centers.
This was confirmed by Ensey in an interview with ABC7 Amarillo.
"The water usage to this (Google) data center is going to be minimal," Ensey told the TV station. "It works kind of like the radiator and the cooling system of your car. It circulates water through these computers. It goes through a set of chillers that keeps that water cold. They've told us that once the system is filled up, it should not ever need to be filled again unless there's a leak in the system that can be repaired," Ensey explained. “So, the water usage on this data center is minimal.”
Guerra explained what is happening in Willacy County, where Soluna Holdings is building a 166 MW wind-powered data center to support bitcoins. It is known as Kati 1. Soluna could also develop Kati2, which would handle rapidly growing demand for AI and HPC (high-performance computing) workloads.
“Willacy County has seven or eight windmill projects, so we have got plenty of energy that has been spoiled that is now going to be utilized (by Soluna). But the conversation I had with Judge Ensey had to do more with the abatements that they (data centers) are asking for,” Guerra said.
“As you know, in any county there are a lot of tax entities. So not only are they (data centers) contributing to the county budget per se, but they are also contributing to all the other tax entities. And so, I think it is a win-win.”
Guerra said he and his county commissioner are being as transparent as possible.
“We have approved the first phase (Kati 1). It is minimal, zero water usage. It is great, between $35 and $45 million of value, which is minimal. But the phase two (Kati 2) and phase three (Kati 3) would be astronomical in value.”
Guerra said he did not want to go into specifics because the County is in the middle of negotiating abatements.
“But, needless to say it helped a lot to have this conversation with the (Armstrong County) Judge (Adam Ensey) and the commissioners court that actually went through it (the deal with Google).”
Guerra said he thought his county was tiny when it came to tax revenues. But Willacy is much bigger than Armstrong.
“It has a tiny population, 15,000, the whole county. Their budget is about $3 million and so you have this enormous project, and it makes a big difference to the county. So, I learned a lot (from the Zoom). So, thank you (Melissa).”
At the conclusion of the LRGVDC meeting, Guerra gave an in-depth interview with the RGG Business Journal.
“I have talked with four county judges that have or are planning to have data centers. I can tell you that this is going on throughout Texas. Particularly in the Panhandle, which is where the judges I am talking to are based.”
Guerra said Ensey and the other county judges stressed the importance of getting a good deal when it comes to tax abatements.
“The abatement part is very important because that's basically what will open the doors for them (data center companies) to come in. You weigh the pros with the cons. In the (LRGVDC) meeting mentioned the three things that people are concerned about (water, power, and the environment). And I don't blame people for having such concerns. But there's been breakthroughs. Just like any other new endeavor, there are always breakthroughs, and that's what's great about this (Soluna) project. I'll add to that is that as a country we need to be on the forefront (of AI and technology). We cannot fall behind.”
Guerra continued: “The other thing that's important is that the Soluna project is coming in in phases. We’ve approved the first phase, which is minimal. The county is going to generate $160,000 just on the general fund, and the other taxing entities are going to take advantage of it. But the value of it is between $35 and S45 million, which is minimal. But as the phase two comes on board, if it does, then it will have more value, and so it becomes critical that the negotiations end up being a win-win for us and for them (Soluna) as well.”
Asked how else the Zoom with Judge Ensey helped, Guerra returned to the topic of tax abatements.
“Judge Ensey’s project is a lot bigger than ours. There are between 4,000 and 5,000 temporary jobs and that has basically changed the way the traffic is impacting the county. But he also emphasized the importance of the tax abatement and what it includes. And that I have thoroughly read, not only once, but two or three times. I’ve also heard from other county judges. I think that's key, to make sure that there's enough incentive for them to come in and, at the same time, that you are taking advantage of the situation where the community can get the best of it as well. So, you need to, in my opinion, be very informed to be able to do good negotiations.”
Asked how negotiations are going with Soluna, Guerra said a reinvestment zone will be needed if the company expands into phase two.
“To approve a reinvestment zone, you need to go through a process, you need to have a public hearing, and so forth. We're guided by an attorney, which we did for phase one, and so then the second step is for the actual groundbreaking inside the reinvestment zone to take place. This will identify the size of the project. But the second phase, we won't know until they come in for another reinvestment zone. They haven't approached us with a request for abatements. They have indicated that they will approach us, but they haven’t yet.”
Guerra said he had to be reticent because negotiations are underway.
“To your question, the only thing I can tell you in terms of the size of the project is that the purchase of the initial 50 acres has already been approved, is already functioning. The second 50 acres, the reinvestment zone has been approved. As a matter of fact, we approved the first phase and second phase, as far as a reinvestment zone is concerned. So, those have been approved.”
Guerra said Soluna’s phase one should be completed by the end of this year. You can drive by right now; you'll see the whole thing there. Phase two should be completed by the end of next year, if everything works out, the abatement agreement, and so forth.”
Asked why phase two is going to be much more lucrative for the county than phase one, Guerra said: “Because in phase one it deals with crypto currency. It does not include AI. In phase two it does, and that's where the value increases tremendously.”
Guerra said the fact that technology has come on leaps and bounds, to such an extent that the Soluna data center does not have to tap into a city’s water system is “pretty amazing.”
He said: “There has been a breakthrough because now they just get the water they need, which is minimal in comparison to households, and then it just circulates. Where this project is located (in southeast Willacy County) there are no water lines. There is nothing out there.”
Asked what Willacy County residents are saying, Guerra said: “We really haven't had too much pushback. We are as transparent as we can be, and that's one of the things that the judge (Ensey) had mentioned to me. It's very important that you convey what you know, and so we're certainly going to want to do that.”
Guerra added: “I am thrilled that this (data center) is taking place in Willacy County, and so far, so good. Hopefully that'll be the case going forward. But you can't afford to be asleep at the wheel.”
