Texas Data Center Intel

Recent Texas data center news

• Dec 10, 2025

  Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2026 Highlights Surging Demand for Data Centers and Senior Housing

  PwC and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) have released Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2026, the 47th edition of the annual industry forecast covering the U.S. and Canada.

  • Report details and scope: Draws on responses from more than 1,700 investors, developers, lenders, and advisors, is the 47th edition, and provides market rankings, data tables, and interactive analyses across the U.S. and Canada; full report available from PwC and the Urban Land Institute (link in article).
  • Key sector findings and specifics:Data centers: national vacancy is below 2%, with power availability now a primary site-selection constraint as AI and cloud demand outpace supply; Senior housing: the first baby boomers turn 80 in 2026, driving rising occupancy and limited new supply; also highlights self-storage, student housing, and a split recovery in office markets.
• Dec 10, 2025

  Top Environmental Victories of 2025

  The Sierra Club announces a roundup of its top environmental victories in 2025.

  • Major announced actions: The article catalogs specific legal, legislative, and advocacy wins including: stopping a proposed public-lands sell-off after Congressional withdrawal; passage of the Climate Change Superfund Act in New York (following Vermont in 2024) and introduced bills in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Maine; legal victories blocking Commonwealth LNG (coastal use permit terminated) and two lawsuits creating guardrails on data centers in Kansas and Michigan; NEVI program restart unlocking $2.7 billion for EV charging; and a $744 million jury verdict against Chevron for coastal damages in Louisiana.
  • Background and additional details: The piece lists species and land protections (Northern Rockies wolves, Colorado bison, Rice’s whales), closure of Merrimack Station (final New England coal plant) and repeal of an Ohio coal-bailout that would have cost nearly half a billion dollars, passage of Utah’s balcony solar law allowing small plug-in systems without utility approval, a coalition delivering ~500,000 public comments to defend the Roadless Rule (including 40,000 from Sierra Club advocates), and a world-record origami action sending more than 86,000 paper fish to oppose Enbridge’s Line 5.
• Dec 9, 2025

  Developers Don’t Need To Shy Away From Contaminated Sites, They Just Need The Right Team

  Bisnow has published an interview-based article on how developers can successfully redevelop contaminated brownfield sites by assembling the right environmental consulting and legal team, featuring Roux Vice President Frank Cherena and Troutman Pepper Locke partner Elizabeth Mack.

  • Brownfield redevelopment is presented as a solution to land scarcity for affordable housing, data centers, and healthcare facilities, with experts emphasizing early involvement of environmental consultants and environmental lawyers to manage contamination, regulatory issues, and transaction risks.
  • The article highlights Roux as an environmental consulting and management firm providing advisory, regulatory, and field services, and notes that Elizabeth Mack, Dallas office managing partner at Troutman Pepper Locke, serves as national environmental counsel to developers, offering insight into environmental issues affecting contaminated property redevelopment across the U.S.
• Dec 9, 2025

  DCF Trends Summit 2025: Bridging the Data Center Power Gap - Utilities, On-Site Power, and the AI Buildout

  Data Center Frontier recap: A panel moderated by Buddy Rizer at the 2025 DCF Trends Summit convened utility, IPP, and data center executives (Bloom Energy, Constellation, Dominion Energy, American Electric Power, QTS) to address the power constraints limiting AI campus buildouts.

  • Main announcement/action: The panel presented a multi-path industry playbook where on-site generation and joint utility-operator planning are shifting from temporary “bridge power” to strategic infrastructure; notable operational details include Bloom Energy’s 90-day delivery capability for fuel cell systems and Bloom’s target of 4 GW annual manufacturing by 2027, while panelists warned that transmission buildouts can take ~12 years and are the primary gating factor for many AI sites.
  • Background and concrete details: The discussion covered firm gas contracts, redundant gas suppliers, behind-the-meter microgrids, SMRs and enhanced geothermal as mid-to-long-term options, and integration of on-site carbon capture (Bloom–AEP collaboration). Panelists recommended early co-planning with utilities, joint “beachhead” agreements to share risk, and analyzing gas transmission capacity maps during site selection.
• Dec 9, 2025

  Microsoft’s commitment to supporting cloud infrastructure demand in the United States

  Microsoft has announced major expansions of its Azure cloud and AI datacenter infrastructure across the United States, including a new East US 3 region in Atlanta and new Availability Zones in multiple existing regions.

  • Infrastructure expansion: Microsoft will launch the East US 3 Azure region in the Greater Atlanta Metro area in early 2027, designed for advanced Azure and AI workloads, with Availability Zones for resiliency and facilities targeting LEED Gold certification and alignment with Microsoft’s carbon, water, waste, and sustainability commitments; additional AZs will be added in North Central US (by end of 2026), West Central US (early 2027), US Gov Arizona (early 2026), and expanded in East US 2 (Virginia) and South Central US (Texas) in 2026.
  • Government and customer focus: Microsoft will add three Availability Zones to the US Government Arizona region in early 2026 to support zone-redundant, compliant architectures for government and Defense Industrial Base customers, complementing the Azure for US Government Secret region launched earlier in the year; customer examples include the University of Miami using Azure AZs for disaster recovery in a hurricane-prone region and the State of Alaska consolidating infrastructure and improving resiliency by migrating to Azure.
• Dec 9, 2025

  Powering the AI Era: Preparing the grid for the data centre boom

  Parikshit Pareek and S.K. Soonee call for anticipatory grid planning and regulatory reforms for India’s rapidly expanding data centre sector.

  • Main action: The authors urge mandatory early disclosure and grid-integration rules: require submission of planned IT load, PUE, UPS configuration, backup mode and commissioning timelines as part of interconnection approvals; enforce voltage ride-through, harmonic limits and telemetry at the point-of-interconnection, and embed location-based incentives and zoning to diversify load away from metro clusters (Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad). Include concrete references to the National Data Centre Policy 2025, Central Electricity Authority planning criteria, and adoption of standards such as IEEE 2781 / IEEE 2800 / IEEE 1547 / ISO 17800 / IEC 62786-102.
  • Background and supporting details: The article documents current and projected capacity: 1,263 MW (April 2025, Colliers India) rising to >4,500 MW by 2030 (Colliers); alternative forecasts include ICRA 2,000–2,100 MW by FY2027, JLL ~1,825 MW by FY2027, and IEEFA high-growth 9 GW by 2030. It cites examples and policy precedents: Google’s gigawatt-scale Vizag announcement, AEP Ohio data-centre tariff (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, July 2025) with rules for loads >25 MW, and Texas Senate Bill 6 (2025) requiring controllable shutdown capability. The authors recommend tariff redesign (energy, capacity/reservation, network access, reliability surcharges, green incentives) and integration of data centres into demand response and ancillary service programmes with verifiable telemetry and flexibility payments.
• Dec 8, 2025

  The gigawatt race: How hyperscaler growth is rewriting the data center playbook

  Schneider Electric, via an article by Guillaume Le Gouic, outlines how hyperscale data center growth and AI-driven demand are forcing a new, collaborative and digital-first playbook for grid-scale, low-carbon power and infrastructure planning.

  • Hyperscale campuses may reach 11 GW of demand (over 10% of Texas’s 85.5 GW peak), with global data center electricity use projected to more than double to ~945 TWh by 2030, requiring clean, dispatchable energy (renewables, nuclear, gas with carbon capture) plus on-site renewables, storage, and intelligent load management so data centers act as grid stabilizers rather than just large loads.
  • The article emphasizes a shift from fragmented supply chains to orchestrated ecosystems using digital twins (e.g., EcoConsult Electrical Digital Twin, ETAP), real-time grid and equipment data, and cultural change (transparency, shared roadmaps, open APIs) to compress design-to-delivery timelines from years to months, reduce waste and carbon, and support 24/7 clean power for AI-era data centers.
• Dec 5, 2025

  A look back at the top 10 Capital Region business stories of 2025 

  Business Report published its Top 10 Capital Region business stories of 2025 on December 5, 2025.

  • Main announcement: The roundup highlights several major local developments including Oak View Group’s federal indictment tied to alleged bid-rigging in Texas, LSU leadership churn across athletics and the president’s office, Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ early fiscal challenges, and megaproject momentum such as investments by Hyundai Steel, Blue Point, and a major data-center investment signaling growth in south Louisiana’s energy and manufacturing sectors.
  • Background and details: The item is presented in Business Report’s latest issue with a full list available online (linked). Specific actionable facts reported include Oak View Group being the partner LSU sought for an arena and its involvement in a federal indictment related to bid-rigging in Texas; no specific dollar amounts or timelines were provided in the summary.
• Dec 5, 2025

  Insatiable demand for data centers is pushing development to high-risk areas

  Bisnow reports that data center developers are building in high-risk hurricane and flood zones across the United States.

  • Main point: Data center construction is booming in U.S. high-risk regions such as Houston and Miami, driven by rising demand for AI, cloud services, and digital infrastructure; developers prioritize power availability, proximity to population centers, and flexible/resilient infrastructure over traditional site risk.
  • Background/details: Utilities are struggling to scale transmission capacity, leading operators to adopt redundant power systems, robust flood protection, modular on-site generation, and other resilient design measures as described by Allan Schurr; these infrastructure investments are presented as alternatives to long grid upgrades.
• Dec 5, 2025

  The top 10 Capital Region business stories of 2025

  Business Report published a year-end roundup summarizing Baton Rouge’s major 2025 business, energy and political developments.

  • Main announcement/action: The piece catalogs several large, confirmed projects and transactions including CF Industries’ Blue Point low-carbon ammonia complex (a multibillion-dollar, green‑fuel project) supported by Linde’s $400 million air separation unit, the Hut 8 large data center proposal in West Feliciana, and the sale of H&E Equipment Services after a bidding war (accepted offer ~$5.3 billion from Herc). It also reports the Oak View Group tie to a $15 million DOJ settlement and an indictment tied to bid-rigging.
  • Background and other details: The roundup lists state policy and fiscal changes including a new 5.5% flat corporate rate and phased elimination of the corporate franchise tax beginning in 2026; retail and real estate transactions such as Towne Center at Cedar Lodge sold for $81 million; and leadership changes at LSU (President William Tate departed, Wade Rousse named system president and Jim Dalton named chancellor).