Houston-based companies Riverway Group and Offshore Data Center announced plans to develop an offshore compute platform powered by natural gas for oil and gas producers. The platform will use seawater cooling to reduce energy costs and be 50 percent lighter than traditional designs.
Riverway Group, Houston-based company partnering on offshore data center project; Offshore Data Center, Houston-based company developing offshore compute platform; Art J. Schroeder, Jr., CEO of Offshore Data Center
Construction is underway on three large data center projects near El Paso: one by Meta Platforms in El Paso, one by Oracle in nearby New Mexico, and a third planned on Fort Bliss Army post in east El Paso. El Paso city officials adopted a climate plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but the data centers could conflict with climate goals.
El Paso city officials, adopted climate plan; Meta Platforms, building data center in El Paso; Oracle, building data center in New Mexico and 1 more
SpaceX filed a proposal with federal regulators to conduct up to 456 Starship rocket launches and 912 landings annually at its Boca Chica facility near Starbase, Texas. The company also filed plans with the Texas Railroad Commission for an eight-mile natural gas pipeline called "Starpipe" to supply methane fuel to the launch site.
$50 years for lease term for Port of Brownsville parcel for Starpipe facilities
SpaceX, Company proposing launches and pipeline project; Lone Star Mineral Development, SpaceX affiliate filing Starpipe pipeline plan with Texas Railroad Commission; Federal Aviation Administration, Federal regulator preparing environmental review and holding public meetings and 1 more
Vice President JD Vance announced that the Trump administration has invoked the Defense Production Act to expand the Delek oil refinery in Tyler. The expansion aims to produce millions of gallons of commercial-grade and military-specification fuel beyond current production levels.
JD Vance, Vice President; Trump administration, Announced use of Defense Production Act authority; Delek, Oil refinery operator in Tyler
Eight years after unanimously approving a plan to build Texas's first seawater desalination plant, Corpus Christi has spent at least $50 million but the plant has not materialized. The city agreed not to pressure major industrial water users to cut consumption in exchange for their funding, but the companies now contribute only a fraction of expected costs. Residents face paying the remainder as regional reservoirs approached depletion during spring drought.
$at least $50 million for spending on desalination plant
Corpus Christi City Council, unanimously approved plan in August 2018; Frank Brogan, consultant and former Port of Corpus Christi executive; OxyChem, Valero, Citgo, major regional water users
NeuVentus announced an expansion of the initial phase of its Texas Reliability Underground (TRU) salt cavern storage project in Liberty County. The expansion increases the project to include three natural gas storage caverns instead of the original number.
$From approximately 20 Bcf to 28 Bcf for working capacity increase
NeuVentus, LLC, Energy delivery infrastructure developer announcing expansion; Sam Porter, CEO of NeuVentus; Guy Ross, SVP of Natural Gas Development at NeuVentus
Governor Greg Abbott directed state agencies to stop issuing permits for data-center development while ERCOT audits over 474 gigawatts of pending requests to connect to the Texas grid. The interconnection queue requests are about 90% data centers and exceed Texas' record peak electricity demand by more than five times.
$Not specified for data center electrical infrastructure costs
Governor Greg Abbott, Directed pause on data-center permits and state regulatory approvals; ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), Grid operator conducting audit of interconnection queue; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Halted data-center permit issuance and 2 more
Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan think tank, released a report projecting that Texas households will pay an additional $45 billion for energy through 2035. The report attributes cost increases to Trump administration policy changes that slow clean energy deployment and increase fossil fuel use.
$$45 billion for additional energy costs for Texas households by 2035
Energy Innovation, nonpartisan think tank that conducted the analysis; Robbie Orvis, Senior director for modeling and analysis for Energy Innovation
Texas Tech University's Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources received a $28.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a Food Science, Safety, and Workforce Development Complex in a new Davis College Flagship Building.
$$28.9 million for USDA grant for Food Science, Safety, and Workforce Development Complex
Texas Tech University Davis College, grant recipient; U.S. Department of Agriculture, grant awarding agency; Lawrence Schovanec, Texas Tech President and 2 more
Foss & Company finalized a $58 million tax equity partnership flip deal with GridStor for a utility-scale battery energy storage system in Hidalgo County, Texas. The battery storage facility, expected to come online in October 2026, will utilize Section 48 Investment Tax Credits.
$Section 48 Investment Tax Credits are generated by the project, with a 6% base credit expandable to 30% when projects meet prevailing-wage and apprenticeship standards.
Foss & Company, tax equity investor; GridStor, battery storage developer; Bryen Alperin, Partner and Managing Director at Foss & Company and 1 more
The U.S. and South Korean governments are collaborating on a project to build a 6.47 gigawatt combined-cycle gas power plant in Encinal, Texas to power a 5 gigawatt data center, with excess power going to the Texas grid. The plant is being developed by Related Companies and NextEra Energy Resources.
$$22 billion for power project cost
U.S. Department of Commerce, government partner in project planning; South Korean government, government partner in project planning; Related Companies, power plant operator and 4 more
The District 11 Groundwater Conservation District met in Nacogdoches to discuss a groundwater management plan that must be sent to the state by January.
District 11 Groundwater Conservation District, Groundwater management agency overseeing 28 counties; Carey McKinney, Anderson County Judge
Governor Greg Abbott announced the ninth Texas Energy Fund loan for a new natural gas power plant in Reeves County. Pecos Power Plant LLC is developing the 450+ megawatt project, which will supply power to the ERCOT region beginning in 2027.
$More than 450 megawatts capacity for Texas Energy Fund loan
Governor Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas announcing the loan; Thomas Gleeson, PUCT Chairman commenting on the project; Pecos Power Plant LLC, Developer of the power plant and 2 more
SMT Energy's 160 MW/320 MWh Houston IV battery storage facility in Houston energized on June 1 and reached market participation on July 13, completing commissioning in six weeks. This was the fastest commissioning timeline in FlexGen and SMT's history.
SMT Energy, battery storage facility owner; FlexGen, energy management software supplier and commissioning leader; Jason Rislov, senior vice president of operations at FlexGen and 4 more
The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources held a meeting in El Paso's Lower Valley on Tuesday to discuss water challenges facing the region, including Rio Grande water access between Texas and New Mexico and ways to increase the state's water supply. The committee also provided oversight of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Mary Gonzalez, State Rep., District 75; Cody Harris, Chairman; Veronica Carbajal, Resident who gave public testimony and 2 more
Governor Greg Abbott declared a state emergency in response to soaring Texas gas prices. Congressman Chip Roy discussed the emergency and defended Abbott's action.
$$18 million for Texas Senate campaign funds raised
East Texas leaders launched the East Texas Water Institute, housed within Stephen F. Austin State University's Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation in Nacogdoches. The institute is a partnership between Angelina College, Stephen F. Austin State University, and the T.L.L. Temple Foundation to improve water research, support water infrastructure labor force, and coordinate regional water goals.
Drew Gholson, Executive director of the East Texas Water Institute; Charlie Glover, CEO of the T.L.L. Temple Foundation; Stephen F. Austin State University, Host institution for the institute and 2 more