El Paso City Council Work Session - July 20, 2026: Data Center Policy, Housing Strategy, Utility Ratepayer Protection, and Facility Maintenance
El Paso City Council Work Session - July 20, 2026
The El Paso City Council held a work session on Monday, July 20, 2026, beginning at 9:03 AM and concluding at 6:20 PM. The session covered five major agenda items: a data center policy framework, a housing strategy, a redevelopment incentives policy, a facility condition assessment update, and a discussion on ratepayer protection through utility intervention. The Council also entered executive session to discuss several legal and economic development matters. Key actions included the unanimous adoption of a resolution for the data center policy framework and authorization for the city attorney to intervene in utility filings.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Veronica Carvajal (Sembrando Esperanza) expressed opposition to AI data centers, stating that the community does not want them. She urged the Council to require enforcement penalties, make renewable energy mandatory, and address noise, heat, and electromagnetic field impacts. She also noted that the city has nuisance authority over data centers outside city limits.
- Saul Gonzalez (Sembrando Esperanza) supported the data center framework as a first step but emphasized the need for more community meetings and action to prevent expansion of existing data centers. He invited Council members to a community event in Chaparral to hear from residents near the Meta data center.
- Kathleen Stout (Community First Coalition) supported the housing strategy, commending the thorough research and community consultation. She advocated for expanding opportunities for nonprofit affordable housing developers, facilitating community land trusts, and creating a housing trust fund. She also recommended designating a housing director and grant writer.
- Richard Deyub (registered lobbyist) generally supported the housing strategy but urged the city to remove barriers to infill development, such as lengthy permitting processes and zoning codes that discourage development inside the city limits.
- Carmen Rodriguez (Community First Coalition) advocated for a city rental registry to address substandard housing conditions, a housing trust fund, and community land trusts. She also noted the importance of whistleblower protections for tenants.
- Rafael Garcia (pastor, Sacred Heart Church) described unsafe housing conditions in Segundo Barrio, including inadequate plumbing, lighting, and ventilation. He called for more inspections and whistleblower protections for tenants.
Discussion Items
- Data Center Policy Framework (Item 1): Staff presented the framework, developed over five months with community engagement. Recommendations included a tiered zoning approach: small data centers by right, medium and large (hyperscale) requiring special permits with increased notification (500 feet), buffer zones (300 feet from residences), landscaping, and noise mitigation. Environmental recommendations called for the most efficient cooling systems and disclosure of energy, water, and emissions data. Economic recommendations included no incentives for hyperscalers (as per May 26 action), cost shifting to developers, community benefits agreements, and a pause on land sales until codification. Staff also highlighted state legislative advocacy to protect city zoning authority and ratepayers. Council discussion covered questions about jurisdiction outside city limits, utility coordination, enforcement, and the need for future amendments. An amendment to the state legislative agenda was proposed but withdrawn to be brought separately. The resolution was adopted unanimously.
- Housing Strategy (Item 2): Consultant Matt Prosser presented the draft housing strategy, a key deliverable of the comprehensive plan. The presentation covered the housing needs assessment, which identified overcrowding as the most prevalent issue, and outlined three strategies: reinvestment and stabilizing neighborhoods (including anti-displacement), attracting a diversity of housing types (including a housing trust fund and use of excess city land), and increasing overall housing production (including regulatory changes and participation in a national housing supply accelerator program). Council members requested more detailed data by district, clearer implementation timelines, and further discussion on anti-displacement, homeownership, and the impact of American Community Survey data. No action was taken; the strategy will be refined and included in the comprehensive plan adoption.
- Redevelopment Incentives Policy (Item 3): Matt Prosser presented recommended refinements to the city's infill incentive policy. Key recommendations included creating separate tracks for small and large projects, simplifying the sales tax rebate, providing longer tax abatements (up to 10 years), targeting incentives to growth areas identified in the future land use map, and exploring additional tools such as a dedicated project review team and partnerships with utility providers. Council members expressed support and requested further detail, but no action was taken. Staff will incorporate feedback and bring a draft policy forward.
- Facility Condition Assessment Update (Item 4): Streets and Maintenance Department presented an update on a new facility condition assessment process. The city maintains 34 unique buildings, 37% over 50 years old. For FY26, 32 projects were identified (roofs, mechanical, electrical), with 20 deferred to FY27. The department aims to assess 25% of 300+ buildings annually. Discussion included the need for proactive maintenance, standardizing materials, and tracking warranties. Council members urged consideration of revenue-generating facilities and equitable distribution of repairs, while staff emphasized that emergency repairs must be prioritized regardless of district.
- Ratepayer Protection and Utility Intervention (Item 5): Staff from the city attorney's office presented on the increasing frequency of utility filings (14 in 2026 so far, compared to 4-8 in prior years). The city's intervention has saved an estimated $85 million since 2021. Staff requested authorization to intervene in electric and natural gas regulatory filings, including certificates of convenience and necessity (CCNs) and interim filings, to protect ratepayers. Council members discussed the process, the role of the Public Utility Commission, and the need for better public communication about the impact on bills. The motion to authorize the city attorney to intervene in such filings was approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Data Center Policy Framework: Resolution adopting the framework approved unanimously (motion by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, second by Representative Limon).
- Ratepayer Protection: Motion to authorize the city attorney to intervene in electric and natural gas regulatory filings, including CCNs and interim filings, approved unanimously (motion by Representative Limon, second by Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Fierro).
- Executive Session Actions:
- EX2 (Isleta del Sur Pueblo vs. City of El Paso): Motion to authorize the city attorney to deny the settlement demand and take all necessary steps, approved unanimously.
- EX5 (El Paso Electric rate schedule for data center): Motion to authorize the city attorney to hire outside counsel and intervene in the Public Utility Commission docket 59948, approved unanimously.
- All other executive session items (EX1, EX3, EX4, EX6, EX7, EX8, EX9) resulted in no action.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. This is a work session of the El Paso Council of the Al Paso City Council for Monday, July twenty, twenty twenty six. It is nine oh three AM. Mayor Johnson present in presiding, also present in council chambers is Mayor for Tem Chavez, Representative Acevedo, Representative Boyar Trejo, Representative Nino, alternate Mayor Protein Pierro, and Representative Limon. Representative Maldonado Rocha will be joining us later. Mayor, we have a call. Hopefully, everyone had a great weekend in your soccer team one. It was a great, great weekend of soccer. Representative Chavez, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? And to the Republic for which it stands with indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay, Mr. Believe that brings us to item number one. Yes, sir. That brings us to item number one. And item number one is discussion and action to approve a resolution for the adoption of the data center policy framework. Good morning, Fernando. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor Council. Thank you, ma'am. So IT, can we get the presentation? Okay, no worries. Representative Canales has joined the meeting at nine or five AMS. Good morning. Um so this is an item uh for discussion and action about the data center policy framework. And you all directed staff on February seventeenth to come back with recommendations for this policy framework, prioritizing community engagement, long-term impacts, and also we want to talk about how this was highlighted and is one of the actions on the climate action plan. Before we get into the recommendations, here we show all the four actions that you've taken since February 17th, including that one to develop the actual framework, and those include a couple of amendments to the legislative agenda as well as an action taken on May 26 related to specifically to economic incentives and data centers. So we started, as I I said before, uh five months ago on this work, and we put together an internal team that included multiple departments, um, planning and inspections, urban design, strategic and legislative affairs, the city attorney's office, IT, and the PIO, and we engage in a public dialogue uh period for the end of March and early April, and then we've we've been doing the actual development of the framework for the last uh weeks that um now we're presenting to you all. A little bit more on that approach, the it's a multifaceted approach, so we did a lot of research both locally, regionally, and nationwide, but we also put together a specific or dedicated website to inform about data centers with FAQs and questions that we were hearing about during those um community meetings. We had conversations with the stakeholders, and we were able to do also online surveys, and we were able to publish the draft document that was online for public comment for for a few weeks and that we close at the end of June. A little bit of uh um summary of the actionable community input that we gather throughout this process. The main takeaways, it's something that you've heard before for the last uh months and that you read in the draft and in the final document. So environmental uh concerns included water, air quality, and noise, among others, economic um input related to utility cost and rate increases about tax incentives and jobs, and and the input about uh avoiding future data centers in in particular hyperscalers. Um, some numbers that you can see on the slide about those um engagement series with the the last um part of it. We got 162 comments to the draft that was published online. And I forgot to mention we're gonna be doing uh a joint presentation with planning and inspections with uh Kevin Smith and also with Omar Martinez from legislative affairs. But before I pass it over to Kevin, these are the four categories in which we've um developed policy recommendations for the framework. And with that, I'll pass it over to Kevin. Thank you. Good morning, Kevin. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I can't control your mic, so low test. Ah, there we go. Good morning, Mayor and City Council Kevin Smith of Planning Inspections. So I'll be presenting the uh zoning portion of the presentation. So just a little bit of background, and I believe all of council is is aware of these, but um also this also for members of the public. So City Council is given the zoning authority to home municipalities through state law. And for specifically for zoning, that's uh regulated by regulated by section 211 of the local government code, and that governs the zoning parameters that um home read home rule home rule municipalities have to work with then. So city council does have the authority to regulate zoning requirements within the city limits.
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