HOOD COUNTY EXPRESS | BREAKING NEWS

According to an Email Obtained by HCE, Granbury's City Manager Cited a $100 Billion Project Under the Code Name "Great Question." A Second Source Tells HCE It Is Project Patriot

The April 30 email says to leave out any description of the project. It does not say what the project is.

October 29th, 2026AD

By Hood County Express

GRANBURY — An email that HCE obtained from a confidential source shows Granbury City Manager Chris Coffman asking the recipient to use the code name "great question" for a project that the email puts at $100 billion overall, and to leave out any description of what the project is.

A second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told HCE the project is known as Project Patriot. HCE has not independently confirmed that. The email does not mention Project Patriot.

The email is dated Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 2:19 p.m. It is addressed to Trent Petty and carries the subject line "RE: great question."

WHAT THE EMAIL SAYS

In the email, Coffman wrote:

  • On the figures: "She has told me phase one is $12 billion and the overall project is $100 billion. Does this give you enough to work with?"
  • On the name, Coffman wrote: "Use the code name "great question" when you title or refer to it. No description of project or reference to what it is please. This will minimize the lack of confidentiality."
  • Last, Coffman wrote: "Part of it does apply for School JEDI but that is a different conversation altogether."

The email attributes the figures to a colleague it identifies only as "Shea." HCE is not naming anyone beyond what the email states.

WHAT THE EMAIL DOES NOT SAY

The email does not name the project, a company, a location or a use. It does not use the words "data center." It does not mention a records request or an open meeting.

WHAT THE PUBLIC RECORD SAYS ABOUT PROJECT PATRIOT

Project Patriot is the name of a proposed campus on the former Knox Ranch in Granbury, according to its developer, Bilateral Energy.

  • Bilateral Energy's project website says: "Granbury Data Center Project." The site describes "a proposed next-generation digital infrastructure campus" of about 2,000 acres for artificial intelligence and cloud computing, with on-site power generation, at 1225 Meadow Wood Road.
  • The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved Bilateral Energy's permit in July 2025 for a power plant with eight turbines and 87 linear generators at that address.
  • Per the Star-Telegram, the City of Granbury's letter of support asked Bilateral for $2.7 billion in capital investment and 60 jobs paying $90,000 a year, and offered a 60% city property tax abatement for 10 years. Coffman told the paper he came up with the name.
  • The Texas Tribune reported that in July 2025 the Hood County Commissioners Court voted 3-1 on a letter of support for "Project Patriot," described on its agenda as "a proposed large capital investment," and that a Granbury economic development official told commissioners she was under a nondisclosure agreement.
  • Granbury officials have said no Project Patriot development application or data center site plan has been submitted. The City's FAQ describes a concept plan stage.

The figures do not match. According to the Star-Telegram, the public figure for Patriot is the $2.7 billion the City asked Bilateral for. According to the email, phase one is $12 billion and the overall project is $100 billion. HCE has not been able to reconcile them.

HCE'S ASSESSMENT

HCE believes the project is a data center. The only projects of that scale publicly proposed in Hood County are data centers. That is HCE's assessment, and the City has not confirmed it.

The other large figure HCE found is for Comanche Circle, a data center campus whose developer, Sailfish Investors, told WFAA it is a $60 billion investment. HCE did not find a public record that puts a $12 billion or $100 billion figure on any Hood County project.

CODE NAMES AND THE PUBLIC RECORD

Code names are used in economic development. Several Hood County data center proposals have gone by code names, among them "Fort Spunky," "Project Panther," "Project Red" and "Project Yellow," according to the Texas Tribune.

On the law, HCE is quoting the statutes and offering no legal conclusion:

  • Texas Government Code § 552.131 says information is excepted from the Public Information Act if it relates to economic development negotiations between a governmental body and a business prospect and concerns the prospect's trade secrets, or commercial or financial information where "substantial competitive harm" is shown by "specific factual evidence."
  • Section 552.104, the statute says, excepts information if a governmental body demonstrates that release "would harm its interests by providing an advantage to a competitor or bidder" in a particular competitive situation.
  • Section 551.087 of the Texas Open Meetings Act allows a governing body to meet in closed session to deliberate economic development negotiations.
  • Section 552.351 makes it an offense to "wilfully" destroy, mutilate, remove without permission or alter public information.

HCE does not know whether any of these provisions applies to the email or the project.

WHAT THE EMAIL SAYS ABOUT THE RECIPIENT

The email does not say what Petty's role is. Granbury City Council minutes from 2021 and 2022 show a Trent Petty presenting on special taxing districts and a tax increment reinvestment zone. A firm called Petty & Associates describes itself as advising local governments on incentives and special taxing districts. HCE has not confirmed that this is the recipient of the email.

THE "SCHOOL JEDI" LINE

The email does not define "School JEDI." The Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) Act, Government Code ch. 403, subch. T, lets a school district limit a company's taxable value for maintenance and operations taxes. The Texas Comptroller's list of executed JETI agreements does not include Granbury ISD. HCE does not know whether the email refers to that program.

WHAT HCE HAS ASKED THE CITY

HCE has asked the City of Granbury for comment, and is waiting for a response. HCE asked Coffman whether the email is authentic, what "great question" refers to, whether it refers to Project Patriot, whether the project is a data center, why the email asks that the project not be described, and what the recipient's role is.

HCE has not independently authenticated the email. HCE will update this story as more information becomes available.

Hood County Express — Est’d 1/26

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