Cipher Digital Riesel campus ('Project McLennan')
Riesel, McLennan County, TX
Cipher Digital Riesel campus ('Project McLennan') is a planned data center in Riesel, TX, with Cipher Mining / Cipher Digital named as the developer. Reported capacity is 500 MW. Up to 500 MW hyperscale data center on ~300 acres next to the Sandy Creek coal plant east of Waco, developed under the code name 'McLennan' for 2+ years; land acquired Oct 2025, ERCOT grid approval expected mid-2026. Company says it will not use city water; residents raised concerns at May 2026 meetings. (Source dated 2026-05-27.).
- 500 MWPlanned capacity
Project status
- Announced
- Permitting
- Under constructionNot yet
- OperationalNot yet
Recorded changes
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Community sentiment
Should this project be built?
What’s next
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Latest news
Nothing written about this data center yet.
Stories about it, and about McLennan County, TX, land here.
Records and documentation
Texas state legislation
- PUCT Docket No. 59475 - Oncor/LCRA Bell County East Switch-Big Hill 765kV Transmission LineFiled March 2026; 122 alternative routes, 835+ protests. Explicitly justified by data-center load concentration in the Temple/Bell/Williamson County corridor; an intervenor has questioned whether specific "Temple Data Centers" were properly included in the load forecast.Download
- PUCT Docket No. 59142 - ERCOT Large Load Interconnection "Batch Zero" ProcessPUCT approved (~June 2026) ERCOT's one-time transitional study process for ≥75MW load interconnection requests; tied to Gov. Abbott's Aug 2026 directive pausing/auditing the queue. CenterPoint reported ~14GW of its own projects positioned in this batch.Download
- PUCT Project No. 58481 - Large Load Interconnection Standards Rulemaking (PURA §37.0561)Statewide rulemaking adopting 16 TAC §25.194, interconnection standards for new/expanding loads ≥75MW (data centers). Adopted 2026 with a flat $100k study fee, eliminated non-refundable interconnection fee.Download
- Economic Development Program Agreement (Seafox) / Tax Abatement & Road Improvements AgreementsMOU-based economic development program agreement (plus a Chapter 312 tax abatement agreement and a road-improvements development agreement) covering a data center project in El Paso.Download
- PUCT Docket No. 59399 - Comanche Peak Power Company Net Metering Application (Amazon)Pending as of mid-2026 -- test case for data center co-location against dispatchable (nuclear) generation. Amazon data center campus paired with the Comanche Peak nuclear plant, Somervell County.Download
Site details
- Operator
- Cipher Mining / Cipher Digital
- County
- McLennan County, TX
- Capacity
- 500 MW
- Address
- Riesel, TX
- Stage
- Planned
Size: not on file
Map
Photos
Google Street View · nearby land, not the exact site
It took 3 months to get inside this massive Texas data center - here’s what we sawFOX 4 News
Texas AG Ken Paxton Sends Compliance Letters to 156 Data Centers over Water Usage ReportingBreitbart News Network
156 Texas data centers warned to comply with water use reporting requirementsFOX 4 News
Texas Agency Tries To Keep Data Centers Hidden Over Terror FearsNewsweek
Texas puts data center permits on hold.The Verge
Gov. Abbott pauses new data center permits until water, power audit completeCBS News
An $8 billion Treasury break helped Meta’s tax rate hit 2%. Senators want data center tax answersFortune
The states with the fewest and most data centers, rankedBusiness Insider
Finns Are Seething After Google Illegally Toppled 250,000 Trees for a Data CenterMother Jones
Google offer to pay others to help data center powerArkansas Online
This bill would make data centers pay their own way for powerSalt Lake City Deseret News
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