With at least 248 planned data center projects and 335 in operation, Texas is poised to become a leader in data center development. A Catholic, he wonders if data centers are akin to the apple in the Garden of Eden. Last month, Clarendon resident Maria Miller asked members of the Texans United Against Data Centers Facebook group to pray against data centers. “I guarantee you Jesus would be outside right now flipping tables,” Beggs said in a recent public testimony against data centers. (Mark Weinberg / Food52) Flowers are silhouetted against lights from the Stargate data center in Abilene on May 2, 2026.