Texas Data Center Intel

Recent Texas data center news

• Mar 3, 2026

  Rick Payne returns to UTulsa to lead Center for Energy Studies

  The University of Tulsa has named alumnus Rick Payne director of its Center for Energy Studies.

  • Appointment and background: Rick Payne (B.S. ’84) returns to UTulsa as director after a nearly four-decade global energy career; he holds a master’s in chemical engineering from Oklahoma State University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, worked operations on Alaska’s North Slope, held leadership roles in Venezuela and Peru with ARCO and BP, and co-founded Foundation Energy in 2005 which raised roughly $500 million across eight funds; he served as president of Foundation Renewable Energy Co. until 2024 and has maintained ties to UTulsa by hiring graduates and serving on the chemical engineering industry advisory board in the College of Engineering & Computer Science (ECS).
  • Center mandate and near-term priorities: The Center for Energy Studies will be an interdisciplinary, campus-wide energy hub focused on energy systems that are available, affordable and safe; early priorities include strengthening student engagement, partnering with energy-related student organizations, connecting engineering-driven innovation with business strategy and policy, and extending the center’s educational mission beyond campus; the center will provide data-driven insight on topics including infrastructure reliability, climate considerations, and energy demands from hyperscale data centers powering AI.
• Mar 3, 2026

  Data Centers Are Increasing Consumer Energy Costs In Mid-Atlantic, Say Panelists

  Panelists at The Brookings Institution warned that data centers are straining the PJM grid and driving consumer costs.

  • Main announcement/action: Panelists (including Dr. Joseph Bowring of Monitoring Analytics and Brandon Piepont of Energy Innovation) said data center build-out is adding the equivalent of two Baltimores per year of new demand to the PJM grid, producing no spare capacity and contributing to an observed 14% increase in customer bills as new generation has not come online to meet that demand.
  • Background and policy details: Panelists highlighted long lead times — ~5 years in interconnection queues plus additional permitting years — making it unlikely new plants can meet data center demand by 2027–2028; policymakers and lawmakers have responded, including President Donald Trump’s proposed “Rate Payer Protection Pledge” and Representatives Rob Menendez and Greg Casar introducing the PRICE Act to require on-site renewable energy, while companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have publicly committed to on-site energy production and funding grid/transmission upgrades.
• Mar 3, 2026

  Building a Sustainable Future in New Mexico

  Oracle submitted a letter to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) seeking air permit approval for the Doña Ana County East and West Microgrids tied to Project Jupiter.

  • Permits sought and technical plan: The request would allow behind-the-meter, natural gas-powered microgrids to power the Project Jupiter AI data center campus; Oracle committed to pay for all energy costs at Project Jupiter and other new AI data centers; the microgrids will have advanced emission controls and continuous emissions monitoring, and Oracle plans to integrate renewable, carbon-free energy (solar and/or fuel cells) in support of New Mexico’s 2045 net-zero goals during that timeframe.
  • Economic and local commitments: Oracle states ~4,000 construction jobs, up to 1,500 ongoing jobs, an estimated $384 million/year boost to Doña Ana County during construction, $113 million/year estimated direct economic output once operational, $360 million in direct payments to Doña Ana County for schools/infrastructure/local services, and $50 million for local water system repairs/upgrades; Oracle also says it is working with partners on emissions reductions in Las Cruces, Doña Ana, and El Paso.
• Mar 3, 2026

  Construimos un futuro sostenible en Nuevo México

  Oracle sent a letter to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) supporting approval of air permits for two behind-the-meter microgrids tied to Project Jupiter, Oracle’s planned AI data center campus in southern New Mexico.

  • Main announcement: Oracle is requesting NMED approval for the east and west Doña Ana County microgrid air permits for Project Jupiter, and commits to pay all energy costs for Project Jupiter and its other new AI data centers; the microgrids will be natural-gas-fired behind-the-meter systems with advanced emissions controls and continuous emissions monitoring to meet or exceed state and federal air quality standards. The company also states it will integrate renewables and carbon-free resources (e.g., solar, fuel cells) into the microgrids on the same timeframe to support net-zero objectives.
  • Background and details: Oracle states ~4,000 construction jobs and up to 1,500 permanent jobs, an estimated $384 million annual economic boost during construction and $113 million per year in direct operating economic benefits; Oracle details $360 million in direct payments to schools, infrastructure and local services, and $50 million for repairing/upgrading local water systems. The blog references a letter to NMED (link provided) and notes SEC filings as sources for forward-looking statement disclaimers.
• Mar 3, 2026

  New Data Center Developments: March 2026

  DataCenterKnowledge published a monthly roundup of global data center developments covering design, construction, power, and investment across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.

  • Overview and key highlights: The roundup summarizes region-by-region developments including major deals and investment figures: S&P reported $69 billion+ in total deal value in 2025 with a $40 billion Aligned Data Centers acquisition; Google’s $15 billion America-India Connect initiative; Adani’s $100 billion AI infrastructure pledge targeting 5 GW by 2035; and a €176 billion (≈$208 billion) European investment forecast for 2026–2031. It also details project specifics such as Meta’s $10 billion, 1 GW Indiana campus and Microsoft’s 15 data centers proposal at the former Foxconn site with a taxable construction value over $13 billion.
  • Additional context and deal/implementation notes: The article lists announced partnerships, approvals, and timelines: Equinix & CPP bought atNorth for $4 billion (with a $4.2 billion financing package); Mistral AI & EcoDataCenter plan a $1.4 billion Sweden AI-focused facility launching in 2027; CyrusOne‘s FRA7 first facility topping out (~$1.2 billion regional investment); G42’s Framework Cooperation Agreement in Southeast Asia backed by consumption commitments up to $1 billion. It also reports regulatory actions (NRC/Atomic Safety and Licensing Board intervention on an SMR proposal) and lists concrete project locations and capacity targets (MW/GW) where given.
• Mar 2, 2026

  Land and Expand: Early 2026 Megaprojects Reflect a Power-First Ethos

  Data Center Frontier reports multiple developers advancing power-first, land-and-expand AI-ready data center campuses in early 2026.

  • Main announcement/action: Developers including Applied Digital (Delta Forge 1), Vantage (Lighthouse), AVAIO Digital (Little Rock), Rowan (Project Temple), Crow Holdings (Dallas) and Amazon (northwest Louisiana) are advancing large-scale projects that pair land banking with secured power and infrastructure commitments; examples include Applied Digital’s 430 MW Delta Forge 1 (two 150 MW facilities on 500+ acres, first operations targeted 2027) and Vantage’s $15B+ Lighthouse (four hyperscale data centers delivering nearly 902 MW IT load on ~672 acres, construction through 2028).
  • Background and details: Projects feature explicit infrastructure co-investments and timelines: Amazon’s $12 billion Louisiana buildout includes up to $400 million for regional water improvements and 100% developer-funded electric infrastructure; AVAIO’s $6 billion Little Rock hub has a 150 MW Entergy Arkansas commitment with potential to scale toward 1 GW, and Rowan’s Project Temple (300 MW, ~700 acres) targets initial operations in 2027 with ~$700 million local investment and unanimous local approvals.
• Mar 2, 2026

  BlackRock, EQT Lead $33 Billion Acquisition of AES

  An investor consortium led by BlackRock’s infrastructure unit Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and EQT announced a definitive agreement to acquire U.S.-based energy company AES for an enterprise value of $33.4 billion.

  • Transaction details: The consortium agreed to acquire AES for $15.00 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of $10.7 billion and net debt of $22.7 billion, for an enterprise value of $33.4 billion; the transaction is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027.
  • Context and implementation: The announcement cites substantial capital needs to fund AES’s U.S. renewables and utilities growth beyond 2027, noting “new generation, primarily to serve data centers, requires significant capital for growth.” Co-underwriters include CalPERS and QIA; the article also references related prior deals (Blackstone’s $11.5 billion TXNM acquisition and BlackRock’s $12.5 billion purchase of GIP in 2024).
• Mar 2, 2026

  THE BIG PICTURE (Infographic): Blackouts in 2025

  POWER and the International Energy Agency (IEA) report that 2025 major blackout events underscored operational vulnerabilities beyond weather and generation adequacy.

  • Main announcement: The IEA’s Electricity 2026 (released February 2026) and POWER’s coverage identify a shift toward interconnected-system operational risks—notably voltage instability, reactive power balance, and protection coordination—driven by high renewable penetration, record connection queues, and surging data center demand (e.g., Northern Virginia event: ~1,800 MW of data-center load transferred to backup). The IEA series (Electricity 2024–2026) traces the evolution from weather-driven outages to these operational failure modes.
  • Background and key facts: The article catalogs 15 major 2025 events with concrete impacts and dates, including Chile (Feb 25, 2025): grid separation with ~1,800 MW on the 500-kV corridor and 98% of population (~19 million) affected; Ireland Storm Éowyn (Jan 24, 2025): ~768,000 premises affected and €300 million in estimated insurance claims; Brazil (Oct 14, 2025): substation fire triggered ~10,000 MW load-shedding and accelerated planned transmission auctions (March 2026 auction: 888 km; later auction projected to mobilize R$20 billion).
• Mar 2, 2026

  What a history of Winter Storms teaches us about the future of energy storage in Texas

  esVolta reports its fleet delivered substantial energy and ancillary services during Winter Storm Fern and the company is developing two new large storage projects in Texas.

  • Main announcement/action: esVolta states its fleet delivered more than 5,500MWh of energy and over 5,000MWh of ancillary services to ERCOT across the five-day Winter Storm Fern event; the company is building two new large storage projects in Texas supported by long-term corporate offtake agreements.
  • Background and additional details: Texas entered 2026 with 13.9GW and 22.9GWh of commercially operational grid-scale BESS (source: Modo Energy); ERCOT deployed the Real-Time Co-optimization Plus Batteries (RTC+B) market design in Dec 2025 and has a new Dispatchable Reliability Reserve Service (DRRS) product intended for resources able to sustain output for at least 4 hours.
• Mar 2, 2026

  Coal is booming. Here’s what it means for climate pollution.

  U.S. power sector saw emissions increase as coal generation surged during President Donald Trump’s first year back in office.

  • Main announcement/action: Coal generation surged in 2025, driving a 4 percent rise in CO2 emissions from U.S. power plants (third-largest annual increase in 20 years); coal generation increased 13 percent in 2025 per EIA data, and coal still generated 737 TWh versus wind and solar 760 TWh collectively. The article attributes part of the surge to seasonal factors (cold winter, higher natural gas prices) and policy actions under the Trump administration.
  • Background and details:DOE emergency orders (2025) directed five coal plants to stay open past retirement (four issued in late December 2025); state-level impacts include Indiana (CO2 from power plants rose 8.5 million tons, coal generation up >20%) and Texas/ERCOT (installed 15 GW new solar/battery/wind in 2025, demand up ~5 percent, coal generation up 8 percent). The piece also notes policy shifts: cuts to EV tax credits and rollback of fuel economy standards.