In an interview with Fox News Digital, Compass Datacenters CEO Chris Crosby urged local municipalities to negotiate for signifiicant capital investments during the ongoing tech expansion. Speaking from the company's Red Oak, Texas campus, Crosby suggested that developers should fund essential public services like schools and emergency equipment.
The $27.6 million blueprint for Red Oak's infrastructure
Compass Datacenters is attempting to redefine the relationship between high-tech infrastructure and local municipalities by treating community needs as a core part of development. As reported by Fox News Digital, the company has already committed significant capital to the Red Oak area,a town of approximately 20,000 people located near Dallas. This includes a $15 million donation to establish an animal shelter following the end of a local SPCA contract.
The Red Oak, Texas campus, which began development in 2019, now spans approximately 2 .6 million square feet across 10 buildings.. This massive footprint includes a Schneider Electric manufacturing facility and supports roughly 900 employees—600 of whom work directly for Compass. By integrating these large-scale assets into the local economy, Crosby argues that companies can create "hundred-year-type assets" that benefit residents through improved local amenities.
Reviving blue-collar trades through a $12.6 million college partnership
A $12.6 million training facility, developed in partnership with Texas State Technical College, aims to address the industry's chronic labor shortage. The facility supports the school's Mechanical, Electrical, and IT Data Center Pathway program, offering a 12-week course designed to prepare individuals for technical careers. According to Crosby, the program is specifically geared toward those without prior qualifications, providing a pathway into essential roles such as electricians, mechanics, technicians, welders, and carpenters.
This focus on vocational training serves as a direct rebuttal to the recent trend of prioritizing four-year degrees over technical expertise. Crosby expressed relief that the "war on blue-collar jobs" appears to be ending, noting that the data center industry relies heavily on construction and maintenance trades. The Red Oak project has already utilized thousands of construction workers over the last five years, illustrating the immediate local employment impact of such developments.
Why Compass Datacenters opted for a water-free cooling system in North Texas
Compass Datacenters utilizes a hybrid cooling system that relies on air or liquid rather than the massive water consumption typical of many large-scale facilities. This choice was driven by both environmental concerns and personal history, as Crosby noted that growing up in North Texas made him acutely aware of water as a precious resource. As a result, the Red Oak campus uses water almost exclusively for bathroom facilities.
While the company acknowledges that avoiding traditional water cooling can sometimes reduce overall efficiency, they view the trade-off as a necessary step for sustainable growth in arid regions. This approach aims to mitigate the common criticism that data centers place an unsustainable burden on local utility resources, a major point of contention in many growing tech hubs.
Can data centers truly offset the strain on the Texas power grid?
The question of whether data center expansion can coexist with grid stability remains a central tension in the industry. Crosby suggests that companies can help mitigate this by co-investing in transmission and generation upgrades and by adjusting their power draw to reduce peak demand. To facilitate this in Red Oak, Compass donated seven parcels of land to the local transmission provider to allow for power line routing without the use of eminent domain.
However, several critical questions remain unaddressed by the current reporting.. While Crosby presents a model of cooperation, the report does not include perspectives from local government officials, utility regulators, or residents regarding whether these investments are sufficient to offset the massive energy demands of hyperscale computing. It remains to be seen if this "co-investment" model can be scaled to meet the needs of the entire Texas power grid as the AI boom accelerates.
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