Stream-Plug Power Deal Moves Young County Data Center Closer to Reality
Stream Data Centers has taken another significant step toward making its Project Saltworks data center campus a reality, agreeing to pay up to $76.5 million for Plug Power’s former hydrogen-project property near Graham and its associated 164-megawatt electric grid connection.
The July 13 announcement comes as Stream continues negotiations with the City of Graham and Young County over infrastructure and potential tax incentives, despite vocal public opposition to granting abatements to the project.
Both the Graham City Council and Young County Commissioners Court continue to meet with Stream representatives in executive session as negotiations proceed.
Project Saltworks, as currently proposed, is valued at approximately $10 billion and would be one of the largest hyperscale data center projects in Texas. The proposed campus would cover approximately 890 acres south of Lake Graham, between FM 61 and FM 209, a few miles south of Graham.
Stream has said the first stage alone would generate approximately $14 million for Young County under the tax-abatement proposal being negotiated with commissioners.
Plug Power announced that it signed a definitive agreement to sell its Graham project, including approximately 66 acres and associated electric-grid interconnection assets, to Stream US Data Centers LLC. The transaction is expected to close on or about July 31, subject to closing conditions.
Stream will pay $50 million at closing and up to another $26.5 million depending upon the amount of electric load capacity confirmed in the final interconnection agreement with the Texas utility. The transaction also is expected to release approximately $14 million in cash collateral held by Plug Power.
The acquisition does not guarantee that Project Saltworks will be built, but it moves the project another one or two steps toward certainty by giving Stream control of another strategic piece of property and, potentially more importantly, an existing pathway to a substantial amount of electricity.
Stream affiliate Headwaters Site Development has proposed developing the 890-acre hyperscale campus with multiple data center buildings. The proposal has drawn increasingly voluble opposition from residents concerned about electricity costs, water use, noise and the possibility that local governments could grant Stream tax abatements.
The Plug property was originally assembled for a planned green hydrogen plant that Plug Power canceled last year. Infrastructure developed in anticipation of that project could now prove valuable to Stream.
The City of Graham has been negotiating with Stream over possible access to the city’s sewer system and potentially to nonpotable, or “gray,” water from infrastructure developed for the canceled Plug project.
The water pipeline was paid for by Plug but ultimately relinquished to Graham. City officials have said the water could be made available for construction projects, potentially giving Stream another option as it prepares the Saltworks site.
City officials have said they remain in the due-diligence process and have not publicly disclosed what terms, if any, ultimately may be offered.
Meanwhile, negotiations with Young County over a possible tax abatement continue. Residents have repeatedly urged commissioners to delay or reject an abatement, with some calling on local officials to wait until the Texas Legislature has another opportunity in 2027 to address the rapidly expanding data center industry.