Matrix Data Center Campus (Sulphur Springs)

Overview

A Gigawatt Campus Announced on a Former Lignite Mine, Now Stalled

Vistra conveyed the former Monticello Thermo mine along State Highway 11, about 73 miles northeast of Dallas, to the City of Sulphur Springs in 2019 under a bankruptcy-era agreement. In June 2025 Fort Lauderdale-based MSB Global Services announced a groundbreaking there for the Matrix campus: 3 GW across 30 buildings of 100 MW each, a first phase of eight buildings (800 MW) targeted for September 2026, and a 1.2 GW second phase on 780 adjacent acres. MSB put the cost at about $18.7 billion.

KSST Radio reported in October 2025 that site work had started but data center construction had not. In June 2026 Mayor Tyler Law said MSB would be phased out and its agreements transferred to a new developer. CyrusOne presented a replacement concept at the Hopkins County Civic Center on September 24, 2026.

Energy model

Fuel Cells and Geothermal Gave Way to a Gas Plan, Blocked by a Deed

MSB said its first building would run entirely on a Bloom Energy solid-oxide fuel-cell microgrid, with delivery targeted for early 2026, and that its second phase would run on a geothermal microgrid under a net-zero plan. Bloom never announced the project, and no plant of any kind was built or permitted.

CyrusOne's concept starts with on-site natural gas generation to be built, owned and operated by an unnamed major US power company, with a later tie to nearby transmission in ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas). CyrusOne says it would pay for interconnection upgrades and use closed-loop cooling at about 1,250 gallons per building per day. See Behind-the-Meter Power.

Any on-site plant runs into the 2019 deed, in which the city covenanted that the property "will not be used for the commercial production, commercial generation or commercial storage of electricity in any form." A judge has barred power generation on the land until trial. Gas generation would also need an air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which has held data center permits, including those for on-site power, since September 21, 2026; see Texas Data Center Moratorium.

Deal structure

City Land, a Transferable Incentive Deal and a Changing Developer

The city owns the land and holds the economic development agreement. In June 2026 the council re-adopted amended versions of its letter of intent and Chapter 380 agreement to answer an Open Meetings Act lawsuit, and the city attorney said both would transfer to the new developer. On September 1, 2026 the council voted four to three against auditing its agreement with SSDC1, LLC, whose construction deadlines are suspended under force majeure while the litigation runs.

CyrusOne, the Dallas-based colocation operator owned by KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners, describes the site as in due diligence with no final plan. No tenant has been named under either the MSB or the CyrusOne plan.

Constraints

Two Lawsuits and a Growing Legal Bill

The city sued Vistra and Luminant Mining to remove the generation covenant, and both countersued, and the Texas Attorney General filed a brief backing the city. Judge Dan Moore heard Vistra's motion to dismiss six of the city's 11 counts in July 2026, the September 2026 trial date was dropped, and trial is likely in 2027. Resident Jack Curtis separately sued under the Open Meetings Act.

The council set aside $1.2 million for legal fees in May 2026, and residents have protested over noise, lighting and wildlife.

Related coverage

Related Coverage

• Amp Z (Project Lufkin)
• Data City, Texas
• Brownfield Inheritance
• Behind-the-Meter Power
• Texas Data Center Moratorium
• AI Data Center Exemplars