The Colorado Springs City Council and local utilities are advancing Project Taurus on a former Intel site, balancing economic development with water, noise, and power issues. Meanwhile, Texas struggles with enforcing water use reporting among its rapidly expanding data center industry, highlighting structural challenges in regulation.

Project Taurus, developed by Raeden, promises zero daily water use for cooling and requires a $1 million surety bond for noise compliance. Colorado Springs Utilities has introduced a tariff making large power users responsible for their infrastructure costs. In contrast, Texas data centers show only about 30 percent compliance with mandatory water use surveys, despite escalating consumption—reaching 1.4 billion gallons in 2025. Texas law caps fines for noncompliance at $500, a level criticized as insufficient. Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton pledge stricter enforcement ahead of an October 14 update from the Texas Water Development Board.

Montana businesses could observe these divergent approaches to data center regulation as instructive. The balancing act in Colorado Springs may offer a model for managing growth with resource stewardship, while Texas’s enforcement challenges underscore risks in jurisdictions with limited regulatory teeth. Such dynamics might influence investment and operational strategies in Montana’s evolving tech infrastructure landscape.

How one city balances its economy and community needs on data centers
By Chris Teale, Route Fifty

The city’s draft regulations would bar facilities drawing 20 megawatts of power or more from using drinking water in open cooling systems. Mayor Matt Mahan called the rules a “middle path.”