The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, operating through two of its farming subsidiaries, has agreed to unlock thousands of acres located in the Texas Panhandle for the construction of a large data center.

According to public documents, church-owned nonprofit Farmland Reserve would lease up to 3,710 acres of the estimated 100,000-acre portion it owns of the historic Triangle Ranch in rural Cottle County to a private outfit to build the 96-megawatt facility.

Just shy of “hyperscale” proportions, the center would consume as much electricity as roughly 75,000 average U.S. households.

Church-owned AgReserves, a for-profit business, is acting as the Utah-based faith’s operational agent on the ground in the Lone Star State.

Powering the proposed Texas center, developer Aetheris details in public documents, would be a 180-megawatt natural gas plant, which it also plans to construct on the leased land.

‘Long-term investment strategy’

A statement from AgReserves to The Salt Lake Tribune framed the project as a natural extension of Farmland Reserve’s “long-term investment strategy,” which includes “leasing portions of its properties for agricultural, renewable energy and other compatible commercial uses.”

The same statement stressed that Aetheris represents an independent company, “not affiliated with Farmland Reserve or the church, and is responsible for the proposed project and related development activities.”

The portions of Triangle Ranch not leased to Aetheris will, it further added, continue as a working cattle ranch.

The Tribune reached out to Aetheris, which the company website says is based in Texas, for additional comment but did not receive a response.

Addressing locals’ concerns

The data center, which Aetheris has named Project Matter, is planned for an area about 15 miles east of Paducah, a town of barely 1,000 residents and Cottle County’s only incorporated municipality.

The project’s first phase, according to Aetheris’ filings with the county, would span 729 acres leased from Farmland Reserve.

Future phases could push the total footprint to 4,252 acres, documents say, with 3,710 of that leased by the church’s farming affiliate and another 542 acres leased from another county landowner.

A sprawl of native grasslands, the area situated near the Texas-Oklahoma line suffers from a patchwork of drought and “abnormal” dryness of varying degrees, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s national monitor.

A town hall on the proposed development held by Aetheris at Paducah High School in May drew robust attendance, Cottle County Judge Karl Holloway told The Tribune.

Residents have “a lot of concerns,” Holloway said. “It varies who you talk to. … Some who are for it, some who are against. It depends on what their actual personal issue is, so it can vary a lot.”

Aetheris has said the data center’s end user is confidential, while adding that the facility would support “widely used digital services that families, businesses and communities rely on every day.”

Letters to residents

In two open letters to the Cottle County community, both published in October, Aetheris leadership sought to reassure residents that the planned center would create “no demand on local water or electricity.”

“We have heard the community’s concerns about water and electricity,” an Oct. 19 letter stated. “... We will independently source 100% of the water required for construction, startup and operations from outside Cottle County.”

An Oct. 26 letter detailed plans to mitigate sound and light pollution, as well as the heat that would be generated by the computing systems.

The letters also outlined promises of millions of dollars in cash infusions straight into the county’s accounts, including for road improvements, emergency services, the library, cemetery, schools and more.

“We recognize that reasonable people may have differing views about our development,” Aetheris leadership wrote. “Whether you support the project, oppose it or remain unsure, we ask that you measure us by our actions and by whether we fulfill the commitments we are making to Cottle County.”

Pursuing a tax break

At the same time, Aetheris is seeking a property tax abatement from Cottle County under Texas laws aimed at bolstering economic development, akin to tax increment financing in Utah.

Those tax breaks, which Holloway said are contingent on a host of public benefits and could last for up to a decade under state law, are subject to approval by the county’s commissioners.

A public hearing to consider the tax abatement agreement is currently set for Monday at the courthouse in Paducah.

Farmland Reserve handles an immense array of agricultural investments around the globe for the worldwide faith.

The church and its auxiliaries, including Farmland Reserve, are estimated to own upward of 2.3 million acres of primarily agricultural land in the U.S., according to a 2024 tally by LandApp, an online clearinghouse for news and information on commercial land resources.

In a 2024 news release, Farmland Reserve said its earnings “support the mission of the church and its religious, humanitarian, educational and charitable good works.”

Note to readers • Tribune data columnist Andy Larsen contributed to this story.