Texas Data Center Intel

Recent Texas data center news

• Apr 30, 2026

  US administration ‘must make it easier to get things built,’ DOE chief of staff says

  The US Department of Energy (DOE), represented by chief of staff Carl Coe, called for easing permitting and policy barriers to accelerate construction of energy projects—particularly battery energy storage systems (BESS)—in remarks at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar & Energy Storage Summit on 29 April in Colorado.

  • Main announcement: Carl Coe urged the DOE and other authorities to make it “easier to get things built,” prioritising faster permitting and policy changes to unblock projects such as BESS.
    • Event: Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables’ Solar & Energy Storage Summit
    • Date: 29 April
    • Location: Colorado, US
    • Subject/agenda: US BESS deployment, permitting and market rules, grid procurement
  • Background and concrete details: The DOE has closed a US$26.5 billion loan package with subsidiaries of Southern Company (to develop/enhance >16 GW capacity, including ~6 GW nuclear uprates), announced plans for multi‑billion dollar loans for long‑lead nuclear items, previously cancelled over US$7 billion of wind/solar funding, and disbursed more than US$100 million of a US$1.52 billion loan guarantee for Palisades; meanwhile Wood Mackenzie forecasts ~500 GWh of new energy storage installs over the next five years and recorded 18.9 GW / 51 GWh in recent full‑year/Q1 totals.
• Apr 29, 2026

  Data Centers Face a New Constraint: Public Consent

  Data Center Frontier reports that public consent has become a material constraint on US data center development.

  • Main development: State and local actions are escalating: Maine lawmakers advanced LD 307 (would have paused approvals for facilities ≥20 megawatts through Nov 1, 2027) and proposed a Maine Data Center Coordination Council to study AI-scale impacts; Governor Janet Mills vetoed the bill, but executive action and local freezes (e.g., Bangor’s proposed 180-day pause) are expected to proceed.
  • Additional facts & context: Local and county actions include Hood County/Granbury litigation and regulation efforts (county sought legal guidance from Ken Paxton), Huron County expanding a moratorium to three years, Stokes County rezoning litigation over roughly 1,845 acres, Aurora adopting stringent permitting and reporting rules, and a contested $6 billion data center approval in Festus tied to electoral backlash (four council members removed).
• Apr 29, 2026

  Maine Vetoes Data Center Moratorium, but Pressure Continues

  Maine Governor Janet Mills vetoed legislation that would have imposed a temporary statewide moratorium on large-scale data center development.

  • Main action: The governor vetoed the moratorium bill because it failed to exempt a $550 million data center project planned for the former Androscoggin Mill site in Jay, Maine; she said she supports a temporary pause to study impacts but will instead issue an executive order to establish a council to study data center growth impacts (electricity costs, environment, local communities). Key specifics: $550 million project, >800 construction jobs, ≥100 permanent jobs, announcement dated April 24 via the governor’s letter.
  • Background and context: The article summarizes broader national dynamics: growing local and state moratoriums, industry concerns about relocation to accommodating states (e.g., Texas, Oklahoma), and a proposed federal moratorium introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; third-party data shows $18 billion halted and $46 billion delayed in projects over the past two years (Data Center Watch). The governor’s action is an announcement (veto + executive order), not a finalized moratorium.
• Apr 28, 2026

  Dallas-Headquartered Mousterian Emerges From Stealth to Create ‘Floating Data Centers’ With Samsung Heavy Industries

  Mousterian Corp. has emerged from stealth and announced a partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries to jointly develop and deliver institutional-grade floating data center projects worldwide.

  • Partnership announced: Mousterian Corp. (M3) will lead development, site origination, tenant sourcing, and project delivery while Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) will provide engineering, fabrication, and delivery capabilities for floating maritime assets; the partners say they intend to deliver over 1,500 MW of capacity over the next 3 years by placing liquid-cooled floating and water-adjacent data centers on barges adjacent to existing power generation to bypass 5+ year interconnection queues. Key named executives: Min Suh (M3 CEO) and Young-kyu Ahn (EVP & CTO, SHI).
  • Technology & rationale: M3 describes building fully liquid-cooled floating and water-adjacent data centers to activate underutilized, curtailed, or stranded baseload generation (notably at water-cooled thermal plants), compressing deployment timelines “from years to quarters”; SHI positions this as extending shipbuilding capabilities into the digital infrastructure sector and will contribute shipbuilding-scale delivery and engineering.
• Apr 28, 2026

  The Breaking Points: Power Emerges as AI’s Defining Limit

  Data Center Knowledge presents analysis showing power constraints are now the primary limiter on AI data center deployment.

  • Main finding: Power availability and grid interconnection backlogs are the dominant constraint on new AI/data-center capacity, forcing developers to delay projects or shift site selection; estimated investment by US utilities and power providers is roughly $1.4 trillion through 2030 to expand generation, transmission, and grid capacity. Key names: JLL (Curt Holcomb), Cisco (Kevin Wollenweber), Synergy Research Group (John Dinsdale); timelines cited: 36–48 months from commitment to delivery in many cases.
  • Background/details: Analysis references Berkeley Lab data showing nearly 2,600 GW seeking interconnection, ABI Research’s April 2026 report arguing grid access/permitting now outweigh chip supply, and regional findings that Texas and Midwestern states are poised to capture >50% of new US hyperscale capacity because of faster interconnection and available power.
• Apr 28, 2026

  Abdul Muneeb Earns Best Presentation Award by IEEE

  Abdul Muneeb, a PhD student and graduate research assistant at Stony Brook University, has been recognized with the Best Presentation Award at the 41st IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) held March 22–26, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas.

  • Award details: Muneeb won the Best Presentation Award at the 41st IEEE APEC, presented at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas (March 22–26, 2026). His paper title: “D30.4 – Near-Field Coupling Analysis of Butterfly Layouts in Paralleled GaN Half-Bridges for Aerospace Applications.” The awards are determined by Session Chairs’ scores across presentation criteria.
  • Research and mentorship: Muneeb is a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stony Brook University, supervised by Professor Fang Luo, and focuses on GaN and SiC devices, planar transformer design, PCB-integrated magnetics, EMI-aware design, and PDN modeling for high-speed power conversion aimed at aerospace and AI data center infrastructure.
• Apr 28, 2026

  Supply shock is testing an LNG system already stretched thin

  The New York Times reports a disruption in Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports is rippling through global energy markets while the United States has limited ability to offset the shortfall.

  • Supply disruption and US limits: The disruption is tied to the Strait of Hormuz conflict; U.S. terminals are operating at or near full capacity, limiting the U.S. ability to replace lost Qatari volumes and sending gas prices surging across Europe and Asia, raising costs for power generation, industry, and home heating.
  • Background and timeline details:Demand growth is being driven in part by AI data centers and shifts away from coal; several new export terminals in Texas and Louisiana are expected to come online but analysts say they won’t quickly fill the gap if disruptions persist, meaning shortages could keep prices elevated and accelerate investment in renewables.
• Apr 28, 2026

  Data centres are controversial: will launching them into space help?

  Nature reports companies including SpaceX, Google and Blue Origin have proposed launching constellations of satellites to act as “orbital data centres” for AI workloads.

  • Main announcement / action: Companies (notably SpaceX, Google, Blue Origin, and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation) have proposed launching constellations of satellites to serve as orbital data centres; SpaceX publicly shared plans in January 2026 to launch one million satellites (compared with roughly 15,000 satellites currently in low Earth orbit). Earlier milestones cited include a Starcloud white paper (Sept 2024) arguing orbital data centres are “feasible, economically viable, and necessary to realize the potential of AI”, and Google’s Suncatcher project (Nov 2025) to “one day scale machine learning compute in space”; Blue Origin has filed for its own constellation.
  • Background, context and concrete details: The US Ratepayer Protection Pledge (released March 2026) was signed by firms including Google, OpenAI and xAI, committing them to build infrastructure for or buy power their data centres need; a Michigan township board of trustees instituted a one-year moratorium on water delivery to hyperscale data centres while it studies an application. Engineers cite key technical hurdles such as heat rejection/cooling in vacuum (radiators on the ISS exist but are likely too heavy and expensive to launch, per Igor Bargatin) and challenges with launch approvals and constellation deployment timelines.
• Apr 27, 2026

  Oracle, BorderPlex, and Bloom Energy to Power Project Jupiter with Cleaner, Water-Efficient Fuel Cell Technology

  Oracle and BorderPlex Digital Assets announced Project Jupiter will utilize Bloom Energy fuel cells to fully power the AI data center campus in Doña Ana County, New Mexico.

  • Main announcement: Oracle and BorderPlex are replacing the project’s planned gas turbines and diesel generators with a Bloom Energy fuel cell microgrid supporting up to 2.45 GW of installed Bloom fuel cell capacity, consolidating the facility into a single microgrid campus, and targeting approximately 92% reduction in NOₓ emissions with negligible water use. Oracle will bear all energy costs for the project and construction is reported to be moving forward on schedule.
  • Background and details: The project includes closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling to minimize day-to-day water use; community commitments of $50 million for local water system repairs/upgrades, $360 million in direct support for schools/infrastructure/local services, and $6.9 million for workforce development and community programs; Oracle expects 4,000 construction jobs and 1,500 ongoing positions over the life of the project.
• Apr 27, 2026

  Homeowners Say Ezee Fiber Damaged Homes, Communicated Poorly

  Houston-area homeowners allege Ezee Fiber damaged properties and failed to make promised repairs.

  • Main allegation: Homeowners near Houston’s Energy Corridor report cracked driveways, damaged utility/water lines, and unresponsive communication from Ezee Fiber; company spokesperson Jim Schwartz responded saying the company is committed to building Houston’s fiber internet network with respect for neighbors and their properties.
  • Background & prior actions:Ezee Fiber lost Better Business Bureau accreditation last year after similar complaints; the City of Albuquerque issued a stop-work order in May (last year) that remained in place for two months; company VP Matt DeMuro said some water lines are “unlocatable” because Texas utilities are not required to mark them.