Texas Data Center Intel

Recent Texas data center news

• Jan 13, 2026

  Can retired naval power plants solve the data center power crunch?

  HGP Intelligent Energy LLC has proposed repurposing nuclear reactors from the retired USS Nimitz to power a land-based data center project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

  • Project details: The proposal would redirect two retired naval reactors to an Oak Ridge data center, projected to produce about 450-520 mW of steady power (stated), enough to power roughly 360,000 homes or one data center; the plan requires 5 stages and is estimated to take a decade. The company proposes a revenue share with the government and creation of a decommissioning fund.
  • Costs, timeline, and regulatory context: The filing estimates rewiring costs of $1 million to $4 million per megawatt (USD) as a cheaper alternative to building new reactors; Bloomberg reported the plan and HGP’s application to the Department of Energy. The proposal faces regulatory and technical obstacles cited by JLL’s Kristen Vosmaer, including weapons-grade uranium possession restrictions, no NRC licensing pathway for military reactors, and the need for complete reconstruction to meet civilian safety standards. As an alternative, floating natural gas turbine barges are noted as deployable in 12–24 months within existing regulatory frameworks.
• Jan 13, 2026

  US carbon pollution rose in 2025. Experts blame cold winter, high natural gas prices, data centers

  Rhodium Group calculated that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2025 compared with 2024.

  • Main finding: The Rhodium Group estimated the U.S. emitted 5.9 billion tons (5.35 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025, an increase of 139 million tons (126 million metric tons) from 2024; the report cites a cool winter, explosive growth of data centers and cryptocurrency mining, and higher natural gas prices as primary drivers, with coal generation up 13% contributing substantially to the power-sector increase.
  • Additional details and context:Solar generation jumped 34%, pushing solar past hydro and bringing zero-carbon sources to 42% of U.S. power; the Rhodium authors say Trump administration policy rollbacks had not been in place long enough to affect 2025 data, and the report’s earlier 2035 projections have been revised down (projected pollution drop now about one-third less than prior estimates).
• Jan 13, 2026

  With U.S. HQ in Dallas, Ireland’s H&MV Engineering Acquires Amarillo-Based Cooke Power Services

  H&MV Engineering has acquired Amarillo-based Cooke Power Services and will operate U.S. HQ from Dallas.

  • Main announcement:H&MV Engineering (Limerick, Ireland) acquired Cooke Power Services (Amarillo) to strengthen U.S. operations; U.S. headquarters in Dallas plus this acquisition will serve the Midwest and Southwestern regions across the data center, renewables, and utility sectors. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Background and details: H&MV is backed by Exponent, is actively hiring for U.S. operations, and said it is investing in data centers and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). The firm has over 14 GW of high-voltage projects in design and construction, a workforce of over 1,600 FTEs across 18 international offices, and annualized revenues exceeding $1 billion. Cooke Power Services will retain its local leadership and workforce to ensure continuity while integrating H&MV resources.
• Jan 12, 2026

  Patmos Scores $100M Clean Energy Loan for Kansas City Data Center

  Patmos Hosting secured a $100 million C-Pace loan from PACE Loan Group to continue buildout of its 35 MW, $1 billion data center project in the former Kansas City Star building.

  • Main announcement: Patmos received a $100 million C-PACE loan to fund energy efficiency, equipment, HVAC, and plumbing improvements for a 421,000 sq.ft, four-story brownfield data center conversion; construction began late 2024, the site currently has 10 MW ready and has signed two tenants with multi-year leases, and the Kansas City project is scheduled for completion later this year.
  • Background and implementation details: The financing (from PACE Loan Group) ties to energy-efficient projects; Patmos will use a closed-loop water system and partner with a local chilled water company to offload in-building chillers (reducing cooling energy use cited at up to 40% of facility energy). Patmos is targeting mid-market (<50 MW) customers rather than hyperscalers and runs similar brownfield projects in Dallas and Phoenix, while exploring other U.S. brownfield sites.
• Jan 12, 2026

  Data center news: Northville, Springfield Township pass data center moratoriums

  Multiple Michigan municipalities, Oakland University, Microsoft, the U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton announced actions related to data center development, local moratoria, and changes to utility and permitting rules.

  • Main announcement / actions:

    • Oakland University is partnering with Ohio-based Fairmount Properties to develop a 26-megawatt “edge” data center on Parking Lot 35 adjacent to a DTE substation; a feasibility study (environmental, utilities, market) will precede a business plan to OU’s board in spring or summer 2026.
    • Microsoft disclosed it is pursuing a potential $1 billion data center on 240 acres in Lowell Township (Covenant Business Park) and requested a pause in rezoning to engage the community; Microsoft now has nearly 900 acres in the Grand Rapids area across multiple proposed sites.

  • Regulatory, local-government, and federal actions / background:

    • Several Michigan localities enacted or proposed moratoria to study data center zoning and impacts: Northville (12-month moratorium), Springfield Township (180 days), Saline (proposed 12-month vote), Saginaw (proposed six-month), Bay City (prepare local regulations); Allen Park postponed a decision on a proposed 26-MW center.
    • U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton introduced the DATA Act of 2026 to exempt fully off-grid power suppliers by creating “consumer-regulated electric utilities”; the Department of Defense solicited bids for private AI data centers on unused military land (Jan. 22 proposal deadline; Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, Fort Bliss, Dugway Proving Ground listed with acreages and varying water risk).
• Jan 12, 2026

  Meta reaches agreement to buy electricity from Beaver Valley nuclear plant to fuel AI data centers

  Meta has reached agreements to purchase nuclear-generated electricity from multiple developers to power its AI operations.

  • Main announcement: Meta agreed with Vistra to buy 2,600 megawatts of electricity from three nuclear plants (including Beaver Valley, Perry, and Davis-Besse) over a 20-year period, which also includes 433 megawatts of increased generation; the Vistra agreement would extend each plant’s license by 20 years and Vistra says the project will take nine years to build and provide ~3,000 project-related jobs.
  • Additional deals and timelines: Meta also signed separate agreements to buy 1,200 megawatts by 2034 from an Oklo project in Pike County, Ohio, and 690 megawatts from TerraPower (site to be identified “in the coming months”); background: the three Vistra plants had been previously slated to close, and Microsoft has entered a similar nuclear restart agreement for Three Mile Island.
• Jan 12, 2026

  Reporter's Notebook: CES2026 Showed AI's Shift Toward Always-On Infrastructure

  At CES2026, multiple technology companies framed AI as an infrastructure challenge requiring systems that run continuously and reliably.

  • Main announcement/action: NVIDIA introduced the Vera Rubin computing platform and AMD showcased the Helios rack-scale system as integrated solutions for continuous AI workloads; AMD noted global AI computing capacity has grown roughly a hundred-fold since 2022 but remains insufficient for next-generation systems.
  • Background and details: Exhibits included industrial robots (Hyundai + Boston Dynamics’ Atlas), Caterpillar’s Cat AI Assistant for fleet and maintenance management, Waymo planning expansion to five additional U.S. cities later this year (current markets: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta), ASUS demoing WiFi 8 claiming 2x IoT coverage and sixfold P99 latency improvement, and wearable devices from Lenovo, Peri (perimenopause monitoring), and Dephy (Sidekick exoskeleton).
• Jan 12, 2026

  New Data Center Developments: January 2026

  Vantage Data Centers broke ground on the Lighthouse data center project in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

  • Project details: Lighthouse is a four-data-center campus delivering 902 MW of IT capacity, driven by a $15 billion investment as part of Oracle and OpenAI’s Stargate initiative; the development positions the site for hyperscale AI deployments and is presented as a regional economic infrastructure project.
  • Additional facts and background: Major energy and footprint moves this month include Alphabet’s acquisition of Intersect Power for $4.75 billion in cash (plus assumption of existing debt) to secure clean energy for Google data centers; Nscale’s $865 million commitment for a 10-year, 40 MW colocation agreement in North Carolina; TikTok’s >$37.7 billion investment plan for a Brazil data center with Omnia and Casa dos Ventos; Brookfield and Qai’s $20 billion AI infrastructure JV in Qatar; and regulatory/energy items such as Ireland lifting a de facto moratorium requiring on-site generation or batteries to meet full demand for grid connections.
• Jan 11, 2026

  Environmental experts say Texas data centers come with uncertainty

  FOX 7 Austin reports experts warning that Texas’ approximately 400 planned or operating data centers could strain the state’s power grid and water supplies.

  • Main announcement/action: FOX 7 Austin interviewed experts who say roughly 400 data centers (operational, under construction, or planned) are driving a surge in large-load interconnection requests — ERCOT received more than 200 gigawatts of requests over the past year, ~73% of which are from data centers; the article also notes Senate Bill 6 now requires data centers to provide more upfront capital for transmission studies and interconnection to reduce speculative loads. Includeable funding/commitments mentioned: federal > $60 million to strengthen Texas’ grid (image caption) and Google’s $40 billion plan for new AI data centers in Texas.
  • Background/details: Experts highlight infrastructure and environmental concerns including speculative projects potentially driving up consumer rates if built infrastructure is unused, proposals for ~130 new gas-fired power plants tied to data center demand (estimated emissions equivalent to 27 million cars), and acute water risk — researchers say a single data center can consume millions of gallons of water annually, while the Texas Water Development Board reports supply constraints.
• Jan 10, 2026

  OpenAI, SoftBank Invest $1B in Renewable Data Centers for AI Stargate

  OpenAI and SoftBank have announced a $1 billion joint investment into SB Energy to build renewable-powered data centers for the Stargate project.

  • Main action: OpenAI and SoftBank are investing $1 billion (split as $500 million each) into SB Energy to develop and operate renewable-powered AI data centers; the agreement includes building a 1.2-gigawatt facility in Milam County, Texas, with additional mega-campuses targeted and initial campuses online as early as 2026, and a Stargate goal of up to 10 gigawatts of compute in the U.S. by 2029.
  • Background and implementation details:SB Energy will lead construction and operations using OpenAI-designed data center architectures; SoftBank’s broader commitments (including a roughly $41 billion stake in OpenAI and acquisitions such as $4 billion for DigitalBridge) provide capital backing. The deal cites integration of gigawatt-scale renewables, potential regulatory approvals and permitting timelines, and cited risks including cooling water use, grid approvals, and supply-chain constraints.