Texas Data Center Intel

Recent Texas data center news

• May 27, 2026

  US energy storage installations hit Q1 record, up 32% year over year: SEIA

  SEIA reported record 9.7 GWh of battery energy storage installed in Q1 2026.

  • Main announcement: SEIA said the U.S. installed 9.7 GWh of battery energy storage in Q1 2026 (a 32% YoY increase), with commercial & industrial 648 MWh, utility-scale 1.5 GW / 7.8 GWh, and residential 515 MWh; Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (for SEIA) forecasts 613 GWh of U.S. storage deployment by 2030.
  • Background and details: SEIA and Benchmark highlighted data centers as a major driver (example: Meta + Enbridge will build 365 MW solar colocated with 200 MW / 1.6 GWh of Tesla batteries to support a Cheyenne, WY data center with 8-hour discharge capability); SEIA also flagged 101 GW of clean projects under political threat and said 36% of projects due by 2030 could be affected; 13 states have storage targets and cumulative deployment leaders include California 60.6 GWh, Texas 29.2 GWh, Arizona 20.2 GWh.
• May 27, 2026

  Stratos and the New AI Campus Math: Building Around the Grid

  Stratos, a proposed 9 GW AI and data center campus in Utah developed under Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) and backed by investors including Kevin O’Leary, has been filed as a MIDA project area.

  • Main announcement / action: The filing proposes a 9 GW integrated campus organized through MIDA, emphasizing integrated generation, hyperscale data center(s), and advanced manufacturing, and framing the site around energy resilience and “secure, domestically controlled power and data capacity” (project filing). The project is explicitly structured to combine large-scale compute with long-term power control rather than relying solely on conventional utility expansion; investor interest includes Kevin O’Leary.
  • Background and other details: The article situates Stratos amid grid and market pressures: ERCOT reported roughly 410 GW of large-load interconnection requests with approximately 87% tied to data centers (April update), and operators warn of repeated “restudy loops” delaying interconnections. Industry voices (Jigar Shah, Trey Travis, Steven Dickens) characterize the shift as industrial energy economics, need for long-term offtake commitments, heavy industrial mechanical and supply-chain challenges, and a broader debate between centralized multi-gigawatt campuses and distributed smaller facilities.
• May 27, 2026

  Texas May Have Accidentally Built the Perfect Grid for AI

  ERCOT and industry filings show CREZ-era West Texas transmission corridors are increasingly guiding hyperscale AI campus siting as developers seek bulk power and expandable transmission capacity.

  • Main announcement/action: Galaxy Digital’s Helios campus (previously an Argo Blockchain site) has ERCOT approval for an additional 830 MW, bringing total approved load above 1.6 GW after completion of Large Load Interconnection Studies (LLIS); the project has service agreements with AEP Texas and transmission coordination with WETT, but current physical deployment is phased (initial lease: 133 MW to CoreWeave).
  • Background and details: Filing documents indicate a 327.2 MW self-generator registration (backup power) including 121 Caterpillar diesel generators tied to roughly 252 MW of emergency generation, a currently identified 200 MW co-located load, and broader system context where ERCOT’s large-load queue has ballooned above ~230 GW and industry reports cite transformer shortages (~30%), multi-year lead times, and average global power-delivery timelines of ~4.4 years.
• May 27, 2026

  Cogent to Sell Phoenix Data Center as Part of $225 Million National Portfolio Deal

  Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has announced the sale of 10 U.S. data center facilities to an I Squared Capital-sponsored entity for $225 million in cash.

  • Sale details: Cogent will sell 10 facilities located in Phoenix, Anaheim, Burbank, Stockton, Atlanta, Chicago, Elkridge, Kansas City, Nashville, and Houston for $225 million in cash; the transaction is expected to close on the later of June 12, 2026 or the expiration/termination of the applicable Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period. (Cogent’s Tucson data center is not included in the announced sale.)
  • Portfolio & financing: The acquired portfolio comprises approximately 53 megawatts of installed power capacity and approximately 259,000 square feet of colocation space across nine U.S. markets; I Squared Capital has committed up to $1 billion to build the new U.S. data center operating platform via capital investment, customer-led expansion, and additional acquisitions. Proceeds from the sale are expected to support Cogent deleveraging tied to its 2023 Sprint wireline acquisition and will be contributed to Cogent Communications Group (its borrowing entity).
• May 26, 2026

  It’s official: Applied Digital is building a $3.6B data center in central Louisiana

  Applied Digital has announced it will invest $3.6 billion to develop an artificial intelligence campus called Delta Forge 1 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

  • Project details: Delta Forge 1 will be purpose-built for large-scale AI training and inference, initially comprising two facilities totaling 300 megawatts of critical IT load across 300 acres; site development began in January and initial operations are expected in mid-2027.
  • Implementation and background: The campus will be powered by Cleco, use a closed-loop cooling system (eliminating constant water replenishment), Applied Digital qualified for Louisiana state and local sales and use tax exemption, and the developer expects 200 direct new jobs (salaries 150% above the state average) and 1,000+ peak construction jobs; company was reported to be in talks with a potential hyperscaler tenant (tenant not named).
• May 26, 2026

  Who Pays for AI’s Power Boom? North Carolina’s SB 730 Moves Forward

  The North Carolina House committee has advanced SB 730 (the Ratepayer Protection Act) to limit utility and ratepayer exposure to AI-driven data center infrastructure expansion and to impose stricter cooling and siting rules for very large data centers.

  • Main action: The House committee advanced SB 730 (Ratepayer Protection Act) which would apply to data centers consuming more than 100 MW, require long-term contracts, minimum billing, financial guarantees, and reporting of contracted vs actual demand, and ban evaporative and open-loop cooling for qualifying facilities; it also would prohibit local economic incentives and eminent domain for qualifying sites.
  • Background and details: The bill mirrors utility measures (e.g., Duke’s minimum-demand agreements, refundable capital advances, and termination charges), directs expedited permitting for generation/transmission/fuel infrastructure, calls for a statewide study on on-site generation and curtailment programs, and advances while Duke reports 7.6 GW signed, 2.7 GW added in Q1 2026, and 15.4 GW under discussion.
• May 26, 2026

  How Power Electronics Cut Generator Run Hours in AI-Scale Data Centers

  DatacenterKnowledge reports that advanced power electronics and battery systems can substantially reduce diesel-generator run hours at AI-scale data centers while preserving uptime.

  • Main announcement/action: DataCenterKnowledge outlines a shift from a “diesel-first” resilience model to a diesel-last approach using grid-forming inverters, AI-capable UPS, high-voltage DC (800 VDC) architectures, and Universal Damping STATCOMs; specific reported capabilities include ON.energy’s 3.5 MW AI UPS units (reported ~3 GW in operation or construction) offering 1–8 hours of backup, and Dimaag.ai’s 800 VDC Zenius + Zifer system presented to ERCOT (April 24, 2026) for evaluation.
  • Background and details: The article references a 2025 Virginia grid fault with an aggregate loss of about 1.5 GW that triggered generator activations; Ramboll’s Universal Damping (UD) STATCOM is proposed as a software-upgrade approach to damp oscillations; Eaton’s Power Xpert 9395P with EnergyAware was tested at Microsoft’s Innovation Center in Boydton, Virginia and evaluated by PJM; Vertiv’s EnergyCore Grid BESS is UL9540A-tested for mission-critical use.
• May 25, 2026

  US installed 9.7GWh of new BESS in Q1 2026, SEIA reports

  SEIA released its Energy Storage Market Outlook Q2 2026 (ESMO) on 21 May reporting the US installed 9.7GWh of new battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity in Q1 2026.

  • Main announcement: SEIA’s ESMO reports 9.7GWh (6.77GW) of BESS entered operation in Q1 2026 (utility-scale + BTM), with 7.8GWh/1.5GW from utility-scale and 515MWh residential deployments; SEIA increased its 2030 installation forecast to over 610GWh. Report released 21 May, created in collaboration with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
  • Context & details: Q1 residential decline (28%) attributed to the expiration of the 25D tax credit and project front-loading into Q4 2025; SEIA cites 467 solar+storage projects with permits pending as vulnerable to delays. The note references major corporate LDES commitments: Google’s 30GWh iron-air deal with Form Energy and Meta’s reservation of up to 100GWh from Noon Energy; SEIA links higher storage interest to energy price volatility from geopolitical tensions (mentions US-Israel-Iran dynamics).
• May 25, 2026

  Enbridge to Develop $1.2 Billion Solar & Storage Project to Power Meta Data Centers

  Enbridge announced a new $1.2 billion Cowboy Project — a 365 MW solar plant paired with a 200 MW / 1600 MWh BESS — near Cheyenne, Wyoming to provide dispatchable power to Meta’s data center operations.

  • Project details: The Cowboy Project will combine 365 MW solar and a 200 MW / 1600 MWh battery energy storage system, with an expected in-service date by end of 2027, and a reported project value of $1.2 billion. Tesla will supply and service the batteries; Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power (CLFP) will deliver power to Meta under Wyoming’s Large Power Contract Service (LPCS) tariff and contract the BESS under a long-term battery tolling agreement.
  • Partnership and context: This expands the Enbridge–Meta clean energy partnership to approximately 1.6 GW of contracted capacity across North America, adding to Enbridge projects supporting Meta including Clear Fork Solar (600 MW), Easter Wind (152 MW) and Cone Wind (300 MW). The article references a BloombergNEF report noting Meta contracted 10.24 GW of clean energy in 2025 and Meta’s net-zero and 100% renewable electricity matching targets through 2030.
• May 23, 2026

  Utilities May Get an AI Boom the Grid Wasn’t Built For

  AEP Ohio reported in a February filing that its speculative data center queue, initially exceeding 30,000 MW, fell to 5,642 MW after requiring binding financial and legal commitments under a new data center tariff (DCT).

  • Main announcement: AEP Ohio’s February filing states the DCT requirement reduced speculative queue from >30,000 MW to 5,642 MW; the utility says the remaining committed load will be used for PJM Interconnection transmission planning and that the DCT’s primary purpose was to flush out speculative and uncommitted data center load.
  • Context and supporting details: The article contrasts training vs. inference load shapes, cites Jigar Shah on differing policy levers (long-term procurement and behind-the-meter generation for training vs. flexible interconnection, interruptible tariffs, and demand response for inference), and documents ongoing efforts: EPRI, Nvidia, InfraPartners, and Prologis collaborating on a distributed compute demonstration for 5–20 MW AI sites; an E3 whitepaper warning about multi-gigawatt forecasting swings; a Duke University study finding roughly 100 GW of potentially stranded capacity if data centers curtailed 0.5% during peaks; and EPRI’s DCFlex pilots of grid-interactive data center concepts.