An industry coalition launched Nov. 2 to advocate for investment in data centers and other digital infrastructure — a fast-growing segment of the North Texas economy.

Dallas executives Marvin Singleton and Darren Grubb lead the Austin-based Texas Digital Infrastructure Alliance as co-executive directors.

Singleton is co-founder and managing partner of Dallas communications, advocacy and policy firm Throughline Global Advisors. Grubb, former chief communications officer at the Dallas Regional Chamber, is a principal at Throughline. 

A focus on data centers

In a statement, the alliance said it will zero in on the economic impact of data centers in Texas communities. Data centers account for billions of dollars in capital expenditures in Texas and support tens of thousands of jobs, the alliance said.

The alliance’s work promises to carry considerable weight in Dallas-Fort Worth. A report released this summer by commercial real estate services giant Cushman & Wakefield ranked DFW, home to more than 200 data centers, as the world’s No. 1 data center market.

In a subsequent report, Cushman & Wakefield said DFW had nearly 1,850 megawatts of data center capacity in operation in the first half of 2026. Another 1,720 megawatts of capacity was under construction, and nearly 15,400 megawatts of capacity was planned.

The report said much of the development of large-scale data centers in DFW is occurring south of Dallas in places like Lancaster, Midlothian and Red Oak. Those areas are becoming focal points for data center developers because of their land and power availability and relatively low population density, the report said.

Alliance membership

The alliance said its members will include businesses in sectors such as data centers, telecommunications, fiber-optic networks, cloud computing, utilities, real estate, construction and professional services. The alliance doesn’t publicly share its membership roster, Grubb told Dallas Innovates.

“Digital businesses are choosing Texas for speed to power, tax structure, and a favorable business climate that rewards scale,” the alliance said on its website. “Those advantages can erode quickly — and we risk losing projects and their tax base to other states — if public policy doesn’t evolve to keep pace with the cloud and hyperscale load growth now arriving on the grid.”

The organization said it will collaborate with policymakers and community leaders on data center-related issues such as electricity, water resources, workforce development and tax policy. Independent Texas-specific research will guide advocacy and public education efforts, the group said.

Public education

The alliance’s debut comes just ahead of the January start of the 2027 state legislative session.

Lawmakers, a primary target of the alliance’s advocacy and education efforts, are expected to debate potential guardrails for development and operation of data centers. The state’s data center boom surfaced as a key issue in the Texas governor’s race.

Megan Mauro is the Austin-based policy and advocacy adviser for the Texas Digital Infrastructure Alliance. [Photo: Texas Digital Infrastructure Alliance]

“Texas has built a competitive advantage by creating an environment where businesses can invest, innovate and grow,” Megan Mauro, the alliance’s policy and advocacy adviser, said in a statement. “The industries driving our next generation of economic growth are also critical to our economic security, infrastructure resilience and long-term prosperity.”

On Oct. 28, the alliance launched a digital advertising campaign featuring a 60-second video explaining how Texas residents and communities benefit from digital infrastructure.

“Texans deserve clear information about the digital infrastructure being built in their communities and a voice in the decisions that shape it,” Singleton said in a statement.

“We want the public to understand how these facilities operate and how much they contribute to local budgets,” he said. “Our education work will give Texans a factual basis for those conversations.”