Texas Data Center Intel

Recent Texas data center news

• Mar 26, 2026

  esVolta secures US$140 million financing for 300MWh Texas battery storage project

  esVolta has closed a US$139.6 million project financing package with MUFG Bank for its 300MWh Boxcar energy storage project in Wylie, Texas, scheduled to become operational in 2027.

  • Financing & project details: The deal is a US$139.6 million project financing package with MUFG Bank covering a construction loan, tax equity bridge loan, letters of credit and term loan facilities to support construction and long-term operation of the 300MWh / 150MW Boxcar project; esVolta has a long-term offtake agreement with an unnamed major corporate customer that underpins revenue certainty; legal advisers were Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP (for esVolta) and Winston & Strawn LLP (for MUFG).
  • Background & context: The project will expand esVolta’s Texas portfolio to 1.56GWh across five projects when Boxcar is online in 2027; Texas entered 2026 with 13.9GW and 22.9GWh of operational grid-scale battery capacity; ERCOT implemented RTC+B market design in Dec 2025; esVolta reported its fleet delivered >5,500MWh of energy and >5,000MWh of ancillary services during Winter Storm Fern; esVolta placed three BESS totalling 490MW/980MWh into commercial operation in 2025, and has a pipeline of over 25GWh backed by Generate Capital.
• Mar 26, 2026

  Data Centers Under Fire: Industry Faces Systemic Security Risks

  Data Center Knowledge reports that AWS-linked facilities in the Middle East were targeted by drone strikes, prompting industry warnings about data centers as critical national infrastructure.

  • Main announcement/action:AWS-linked facilities in the Middle East (notably in the UAE) were targeted by drone strikes earlier this month, producing cross-availability-zone disruption and drawing attention from market intelligence firm DC Byte, researcher NCC Group, and industry analysts including Ron Westfall (HyperFrame Research) and Kristina Lesnjak (DC Byte).
  • Background & details:Hyperscale AI campuses (Microsoft, Google, Amazon) operate at hundreds of megawatts to multiple gigawatts; reports warn that attacks often target dependencies (power, fiber, substations) rather than facility perimeters, highlight threats including AI-driven intrusions, cyber-physical vulnerabilities, and a concentrated supply chain for transformers and semiconductors; industry security models remain largely facility-focused while oversight is fragmented across operators, utilities, and regulators.
• Mar 25, 2026

  Equinix Targets Talent Gap as AI Infrastructure Demand Surges

  Equinix has announced a global expansion of workforce development initiatives to build technical talent pipelines for data centers, including a global rollout of Pathways to Tech and a Data Center Technician Training Coalition with Generation.

  • Main announcement:Equinix is scaling its Pathways to Tech program (targeting students aged 14–18) from a two-year pilot that reached nearly 2,000 students across the Americas and Asia-Pacific to a global rollout, and launching a Data Center Technician Training Coalition (in partnership with Generation) with a pilot in Brazil and plans to expand globally through 2026. Programs include IBX facility tours, internships, apprenticeships, standardized apprenticeships/internships across US, Germany, France, Singapore, the UK, and Brazil, and hands-on “Learning Labs” in markets such as Dallas, Paris, and Singapore.

  • Background and implementation details: The initiatives are presented as a coordinated, multi-employer response to industry talent shortages driven by AI-related demand; Equinix states the initiatives will roll out globally beginning in 2026, with activations planned across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. The coalition will co-develop curricula, co-fund training, and hire graduates; the article describes this as an announced program (not merely commentary).

• Mar 24, 2026

  Amarillo data center project gets approval from environmental agency, despite community pushback

  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved Fermi America’s air permitting for Project Matador, advancing the nearly 6,000-acre data center campus into its final stages.

  • Main announcement: TCEQ gave final approval for Fermi America’s air permit for Project Matador, a nearly 6,000-acre campus described by Fermi as an 11 GW private grid campus and the recipient of what the company calls the second-largest Clean Air Permit in the country; the permit seeks authorization for 23.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
  • Background and details: The decision came despite more than 300 public comments and sustained community opposition in Amarillo; Fermi’s statement was issued by Cathy Landtroop (chief communications officer), and opposition comments were voiced by residents like Kendra Seawright and by Public Citizen (Kathryn Guerra), who criticized TCEQ’s evaluation process.
• Mar 24, 2026

  Google Has PPAs for Solar Power from Renewable Energy Group

  Sunraycer Renewables announced it has executed long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Google for the Lupinus and Lupinus 2 solar projects in Franklin County, Texas.

  • Main announcement: Sunraycer executed long-term PPAs with Google to support construction and operation of the combined ~400-MWac Lupinus photovoltaic (PV) facility (Lupinus and Lupinus 2); both projects are expected to begin commercial operation in late 2027, and the transaction was facilitated through LevelTen Energy’s Accelerated Process (LEAP).
  • Background and details: Sunraycer is a Crayhill Capital Management portfolio company with a development, construction-stage, and operational pipeline of about 3 GW of solar and battery projects; the projects will operate in the ERCOT market and LevelTen notes it provides access to more than 4,500 PPA price offers across 28 countries, with LEAP taking the RFP to contract execution in under 10 weeks.
• Mar 24, 2026

  The Northwest Hasn’t Learned the Lessons of WPPSS (“Whoops”)

  Laura Feinstein (Sightline Institute) argues that leaders should avoid building new gas-fired power plants in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and instead prioritize data center flexibility, demand response, energy efficiency, and transmission expansion to address near-term resource adequacy concerns.

  • Main action and evidence: The piece urges policymakers and regulators to require utilities and large electricity users to exhaust large-load flexibility and demand-side measures before approving fossil fuel infrastructure; cites a September 2025 E3 Phase 1 analysis that reported an 8.7 GW shortfall by 2030 (commonly rounded to 9 GW), which shrinks to roughly 5.6 GW when already planned resources (e.g., Carriger solar, PacifiCorp conversions) are counted. The article highlights alternatives with concrete figures: a Duke University estimate that 3.8 GW could be gained if data centers reduced power about one week per year, and a Sylvan Energy Analytics review showing data-center curtailment can eliminate the gap in multiple scenarios.
  • Background and concrete details: The article documents utilities’ recent actions and legislative context: PSE has contracted for six new gas turbines (filing redacted), Grant PUD approved a (temporary) 12 MW natural gas plant, PSE’s voluntary demand response currently reduces <2% of peak demand and Washington law requires ramping to 10% savings starting 2027; it notes the U.S. Department of Energy used the E3 report to justify keeping a coal plant online past Dec 31, 2025. The author characterizes the piece as an opinion/analysis urging precaution and policy alternatives rather than announcing a new transaction or partnership.
• Mar 24, 2026

  Superconducting the AI Era: Rethinking Power Delivery for Gigawatt Data Centers

  MetOx CEO Bud Vos outlined the company’s high-temperature superconducting (HTS) approach for moving large amounts of power across gigawatt-scale AI data center campuses on the Data Center Frontier Show podcast (published March 24, 2026).

  • Main announcement/action: Bud Vos (CEO, MetOx) described HTS as a practical alternative to copper for campus and in-hall power delivery, claiming ~10x power density vs copper, the ability to replace dozens of conductors with a few superconducting cables, and that MetOx is “deploying, testing, and then innovating on top of that.” The episode was published on March 24, 2026 on the Data Center Frontier Show podcast.
  • Background and other details: The piece notes HTS requires liquid nitrogen cooling, has utility deployment track records, can reduce physical footprint and permitting impacts, uses ~99% less copper, and aligns with trends in behind-the-meter generation, multi-building campus transmission, and liquid-cooling architectures. No specific contract values or timelines beyond ongoing deployment/testing were provided.
• Mar 24, 2026

  Nebraska advances energy storage and data centre-focused bill

  Nebraska Legislature advanced LB1010, introduced by Republican state senator Tom Brandt, to clarify eminent domain, regulation, and taxation for battery energy storage systems (BESS) and to require data centres to disclose electricity usage.

  • Main action: LB1010 (“Adopt the Large Load Customer Regulation Act”) was introduced on 13 January by Sen. Tom Brandt and was further advanced on 12 March; the bill explicitly addresses eminent domain of electrical energy storage property, regulation and taxation of energy storage resources, and includes amendments related to cryptocurrency mining operations and data centres.
  • Background & next steps: The bill is currently in Enrollment and Review with three primary legislative steps remaining before being sent to the governor; related local actions include a 2025 Lancaster County zoning update proposal from Eolian to permit large-scale BESS via planning commission use permits (public hearings). Cleanview reports 5 utility-scale battery storage projects totalling 6MW in Nebraska as of March 2026.
• Mar 23, 2026

  Communities Are Raising Noise Pollution Concerns About Data Centers

  Miguel Yañez-Barnuevo reports on noise pollution from data centers and local policy responses, citing community complaints, health impacts, and mitigation options.

  • Main announcement/action: The article documents local regulatory and community pushback (e.g., Chandler, AZ adopted a zoning code amendment in 2022 and the Chandler city council unanimously voted against a proposed AI data center in 2025) in response to persistent data center noise; it also reports that 46 planned/permitted/under-construction U.S. data centers will use off-grid gas turbines that run continuously, and cites specific facility details such as an xAI site with 27 natural gas turbines and a Granbury, Texas bitcoin mine with ~60,000 computers located under 100 yards from residences.
  • Background and factual details: The piece notes the EPA retains legal authority over noise (historically ran the Office of Noise Abatement and Control until defunding in 1981), documents technical facts such as cooling = ~40% of data center electricity use, generators are tested at least once a month, the EPA allows up to 50 hours/year operation of emergency generators in non-emergency testing, and cites measured noise ranges including ~96 dB in large computing warehouses and industrial diesel generators reaching up to 105 dB.
• Mar 23, 2026

  Musk’s ‘Terafab’ Proposal Sparks Debate on the Future of AI Infrastructure

  Elon Musk announced Terafab, a vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturing initiative spanning Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, with an initial advanced fabrication facility planned in Austin, Texas and a stated potential to support up to one terawatt of compute annually.

  • Main announcement: Terafab is a full-stack AI silicon effort (design, fabrication, testing, packaging) intended to serve applications from autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots to space-based compute; initial site: Austin, Texas; Musk claimed the effort could ultimately support up to one terawatt of compute annually.
  • Context and open questions: The presentation included no confirmed equipment orders (ASML, KLA, Applied Materials), no named process technology partner, and no confirmed head of semiconductor manufacturing; industry analysts (Patrick Moorhead, Steven Dickens, Jack Gold) emphasized the reality of a foundry capacity gap through 2030 and highlighted execution, capital, and process-readiness risks.