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Texas Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across Texas — updated daily.
Recent Texas data center news
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Roundup: LNG export deal / Beef prices / Hut 8
Woodside Energy has signed a binding LNG supply deal with Turkey’s state-owned BOTAS.
- Deal details: Woodside agreed to supply about 5.8 billion cubic meters of LNG to BOTASfor up to nine years starting in 2030, converting a prior nonbinding agreement; most volumes are expected to come from Woodside’s under-construction Louisiana LNG project, which was approved in April and is slated to start deliveries in 2029 (source: Reuters).
- Other announcements/background:Jacobs will serve as engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) partner for the $10 billion Hut 8 Louisiana data centre project, in collaboration with Vertiv; J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs will underwrite project-level financing expected to cover up to 85% of total costs (source: Construction Drive). Also noted: wholesale filet beef costs are up ~67% from prepandemic levels, with some operators reporting ~40% increases this year, squeezing steakhouses’ margins (source: The Wall Street Journal).
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North Texas Startup Joins Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Utilities in Open Power AI Consortium Focused On How We ‘Make, Move, and Use Electricity’
KYRO AI signed a memorandum of understanding with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to join the Open Power AI Consortium and will contribute field-tested utility operations expertise to the consortium’s effort to develop open-source AI models and a sandbox for electricity-sector applications.
- Main announcement: KYRO AI (Plano) signed an MOU with EPRI to participate in the Open Power AI Consortium (OPAI) alongside tech firms (Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, AWS) and major utilities (Duke Energy, Exelon, Southern California Edison). KYRO will bring field-level operational data and workflows to help build open-source models and testcases for forecasting demand, triaging outages, and prioritizing work in the consortium’s sandbox environment.
- Background and details: The consortium (announced March 2025) is developing domain-specific LLMs trained on EPRI data and aims to shorten interconnection study timelines (currently up to 4 years) by at least five times. Article cites specific figures: 22% rise in U.S. data-center power demand this year, a potential $22 billion in returns from cutting permitting timelines by one year, and a near $10 million error at the founder’s prior company as context for KYRO’s founding.
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SoftBank to Acquire DigitalBridge for $4 Billion, Doubling Down on AI Infrastructure
SoftBank Group has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DigitalBridge for an enterprise value of approximately $4.0 billion.
- Deal terms and timing: SoftBank will acquire all outstanding shares of DigitalBridge for $16.00 per share in cash (a 15% premium to the December 26 closing price and roughly a 50% premium to the unaffected 52-week average); the transaction was unanimously approved by DigitalBridge’s board and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
- Background and strategic details: DigitalBridge is a Boca Raton, Florida–headquartered alternative asset manager that manages approximately $108 billion in assets across data centers, fiber networks, cell towers, small cells, and edge infrastructure; the acquisition is positioned to strengthen SoftBank’s AI infrastructure strategy (including participation in Project Stargate, a ~7 gigawatt planned buildout across Texas, New Mexico, and Ohio) and to let DigitalBridge operate as a separately managed platform while providing SoftBank long-duration capital and origination capabilities.
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AI data center boom forcing decade old, inefficient power plants back into service
NRG Energy withdrew the retirement notice for the Fisk power plant and will keep its eight peaker units operating.
- Withdrawal of retirement notice and immediate action: NRG Energy withdrew the retirement notice for Fisk’s eight peaking units (they had been scheduled to retire next year) after electricity prices shot up in the PJM Interconnection market as electricity requests from data centers powering AI exceeded existing supplies; Matt Pistner, SVP of generation at NRG, said: “We believe there’s an economic case to keep them around, so we withdrew the retirement notice.”
- Background and supporting details: A Reuters analysis found about 60% of oil, gas and coal power plants slated for retirement in PJM postponed or cancelled plans this year; the Fisk peakers run on petroleum oil, operate as short-burst peaker units, and are sited on the former location of a century-old coal-fired generating station.
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UK $90 Billion Energy Giant BP Sells 65% Stake in Castrol to United States $80 Billion Infrastructure & Real Assets Investment Firm Stonepeak for $6 Billion at $10.1 Billion Valuation in Joint Venture (65% Stonepeak & 35% BP Ownership of Castrol), Castrol is a Leading Global Lubricants Brand
The UK energy giant BP announced the sale of a 65% stake in Castrol to US infrastructure and real assets firm Stonepeak on 25th December (Hong Kong).
- Main action: BP will sell 65% of Castrol to Stonepeak for $6 billion, creating a joint venture valuing Castrol at $10.1 billion; post-transaction ownership will be 65% Stonepeak / 35% BP. The announcement date is 25th December and was reported by Caproasia.
- Background and details: Castrol markets lubricants in 150+ countries and plans to grow mobility and industrial lubricants, expand mobility services, and diversify into data centre fluids. Stonepeak is described as having ~$80 billion AUM and offices in New York, Houston, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh; BP is described with a $90 billion market value.
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UK’s Nscale to Boost US Footprint with $865M Data Center Deal
UK-based Nscale will invest $865 million for a 10-year, 40 MW colocation agreement with WhiteFiber at the planned NC-1 data center in Madison, North Carolina.
- Deal details: Nscale commits $865 million for a 10-year, 40 MW colocation agreement at WhiteFiber’s NC-1 (one million sq ft on 96 acres). Payments begin for 20 MW in April 2026 and the remaining 20 MW in May 2026; WhiteFiber will provide priority notification of additional available capacity.
- Background and funding: WhiteFiber (a subsidiary of Enovum Data Centers) has invested $150 million in the facility and is in advanced talks with lenders to fund buildout to accommodate Nscale; Nscale raised $1.1 billion in Series B in September and recently contracted with Microsoft to deliver 104,000 Nvidia GPUs for a 240 MW site in Barstow, Texas.
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Data centers revive polluting ‘peaker’ plants across U.S.
NRG Energy withdrew a planned retirement notice for the Fisk oil-fired peaker units as surging electricity demand from AI data centers in PJM territory made peaker plants economically viable.
- Main action: NRG Energy withdrew the retirement notice for Fisk’s eight oil-fired peaking units (December 2025) after AI data center demand drove prices in PJM higher; PJM said the market shows electricity demand outstripping supply and that existing generation is needed while new generation comes online. Key facts: Fisk = eight peaking units on former coal station site; EPA estimated sulfur dioxide 2 to 25 tons/year from the site; PJM prices to suppliers soared by more than 800% this summer.
- Background & other details: Reuters analysis found about 60% of oil, gas and coal plants slated for retirement in PJM postponed or cancelled retirements this year; 23 plants were scheduled to retire starting in 2025 in PJM territory, and since January 13 retirements were delayed or cancelled (of those, 11 were peakers). The U.S. Government Accountability Office notes peakers supply about 3% of the country’s power but have capacity to produce 19%, and federal actors (DOE/Administration) have signaled interest in tapping spare capacity.
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NTIA Recommends $6.5M in Tribal Broadband Awards
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recommended nearly $6.5 million for nine Tribal broadband projects under the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP).
- Main announcement: NTIA recommended nearly $6.5 million in funding for nine Tribal broadband projects, including a $2.5 million award to Dena’ Nena’ Henash to complete four engineered, environmentally permitted, shovel-ready fiber-to-the-home network designs; awards also include $496,003 for a hybrid fiber/wireless network serving the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and $500,000 to the Barona Group to expand low-cost internet access.
- Background and timeline: NTIA is overhauling the $3 billion TBCP, paused most previously recommended grants in November, will hold Tribal consultations on January 13 and January 20, 2026, and plans to issue new guidance for a funding round in spring 2026; roughly $980 million from the program’s second funding round remained undistributed as of November.
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Alphabet to Buy Data Center Partner Intersect for $4.75B
Alphabet has announced it will buy Intersect Power for $4.75 billion in cash plus existing debt.
Acquisition details:Alphabet will acquire Intersect’s power development platform and team, including existing in-development assets already contracted by Google; Intersect will retain its brand and continue to be led by CEO Sheldon Kimber. The purchase excludes grid assets and projects contracted to other customers in Texas and California (some operating, some in development); TPG Rise Climate will retain a stake in those excluded assets. Key project figures: 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar and storage in operation, 8 GW in development pipeline, and $15 billion of energy assets in operation or under construction in the US.
Context and rationale: The deal is intended to secure more electricity for Google’s data centers amid AI-driven demand and aging US grids; Alphabet says the move provides flexibility to build generation aligned with new data center load. Google reported its carbon emissions rose 48% over five years due to data center operations. Analysts (Ben Hertz-Shargel, Wood Mackenzie) note the acquisition reduces certain regulatory risk compared with a third-party powering Google sites.
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21 Investments, 100+ Hires, 53 Podcast Episodes: MCJ’s 2025 Impact
MCJ has recapped its 2025 impact, highlighting 21 climate-focused investments, over $15M deployed, 100+ hires across portfolio companies, and 53 episodes of its Inevitable climate and energy podcast.
- Impact and activities: MCJ made 21 investments (13 new portfolio companies) and deployed over $15M into companies in clean energy, abundance, infrastructure resilience, and new industrialism; it organized an “Energy + AI” event in Austin, TX, recorded a live Inevitable episode with Crusoe COO Cully Cavness, and its team members engaged in activities such as teaching impact investing at UCLA Anderson and touring leading cleantech companies in China.
- Media and content highlights: MCJ produced 53 podcast episodes including popular shows featuring Tom Steyer (Galvanize), Brandon Middaugh (Microsoft’s $1B Climate Innovation Fund), Hannan Happi (Exowatt) on thermal energy storage for AI data centers, Cully Cavness (Crusoe) on hyperscale AI data centers and the $500B Project Stargate, and Dr. Mark Jacobson (Stanford) on 100% renewables; the newsletter also promoted top 2025 climate articles on energy scarcity, Canada as a launchpad for U.S. climate and energy innovation, nature vs. climate framing, AI + quantum (AQ), and cold chain climate innovation, and invited readers to submit climate-related events/content to info@mcj.vc and content@mcj.vc or apply to join MCJ Collective.