Pacifico Energy and BlackChamber are preparing for the next phase of their Cedar Creek data center development, with plans filed Oct. 7 for the first of two data center buildings.

The filing follows an August step toward securing water service, when Aqua WSC approved a resolution to move forward with a Non-Standard Service Agreement for the project.

The update: The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing outlines Project Longhorn—Building One, a one-story data center near Earl Callahan and Walter Hoffman roads—about 7 miles southeast of where EdgeConneX is developing three data center campuses.

Zooming in: The nearly 500,000-square-foot building carries an estimated cost of $366 million, with construction scheduled to begin Nov. 30 and end Jan. 31, 2028.

Plans call for civil site work and structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire infrastructure as part of the project.

Catch up on the top five trending stories in Bastrop-Cedar Creek.

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3. 📈 Bastrop County property tax rate to rise 6.2%

4. 📌 What’s planned for Bastrop’s South End District

5. ☀️ What to know about Bastrop's new solar rules

In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed a law changing the amount of time students are required to spend in public schools from 180 days to 75,600 minutes per school year.

More than a decade later, some state senators are considering again mandating the number of days schools are open, citing concerns about student performance in districts that use condensed weekly schedules.

The details: At least 181 districts and 572 campuses used four-day school weeks in the 2024-25 school year, per Texas Education Agency data.

A TEA study found that during the 2022-23 school year, students attending school four days per week had lower performance in certain subjects on the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness than students at five-day schools.

Quote of note: "There is not a benefit that I see for a four-day school week for the child," Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, said. "We know there's learning loss. What is the advantage of a four-day [week]? Because I see none except to please somebody who wants to be off more days."