Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Texas Attracts Megawatts Faster Than It Can Write the Rules to Manage Them

Medina County can't even compel datacenter developers to disclose their identity or water plans, yet eight billion-dollar-scale facilities are landing on top of the Edwards Aquifer, with operators gaining water access simply by purchasing property. That's the sharpest example of a statewide pattern: SB 6 rulemaking is still grinding through public comment on how remote disconnection and cost-shifting will actually work, while Crusoe Energy warns that ambiguous rules could impose 180-day delays on its 1.2 GW Stargate campus in Abilene. A $42 million DOE-funded project at UT Arlington offers a longer-term release valve, targeting a proof of concept by mid-2026 that would slash cooling energy from 40% of facility load to under 5%, easing both power and water pressure if it scales. The common thread isn't that Texas can't solve these problems; it's that the load is arriving now and the rules, resources, and technology won't be ready at the same time.

Today's Lead

Texas is ground zero for the collision between datacenter growth and resource constraints, with three distinct stories converging today: SB 6 rulemaking is entering its final stretch as the PUC, ERCOT, and industry hash out implementation details on remote disconnection authority and cost-shifting for large loads; Medina County is absorbing eight billion-dollar-scale datacenter projects on top of a water-stressed aquifer with almost no regulatory leverage; and a DOE-funded UT Arlington project is racing to cut cooling energy from 40% of facility load to under 5%, which could ease both power and water pressure if it scales. Together, these stories frame the central tension: Texas keeps attracting massive load growth, but the rules, resources, and technology to manage it are all still works in progress.

[1]·[2]·[3]

Politics

SB 6 Rulemaking Enters Final Phase, Crusoe Already Pushing Back

Public comment periods on SB 6 implementation close this month, per Inside Climate News, with the PUC and ERCOT still working through how the "kill switch" (remote disconnection of loads ≥75 MW during grid emergencies) and transmission cost-shifting will function in practice. Crusoe Energy Systems, developer of the 1.2 GW Stargate campus in Abilene backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, has filed arguments that a new ERCOT approval requirement for private power agreements could impose 180-day delays on developers with billions already committed. Crusoe is also pressing PUC for clarity on whether projects already in the interconnection queue with planned co-located generation fall under the large load user definition.

SB 6 was designed to protect the grid and shield residential ratepayers, but ambiguous implementation could freeze projects mid-development. If rulemaking outcomes disadvantage in-progress deals, expect legal challenges. The final rules will set the template for every large load developer in ERCOT.

[1]·[4]

Water

Medina County's Aquifer Faces Eight Data Centers With No Disclosure Requirements

Eight data centers are planned or underway in Medina County, confirmed by County Judge Keith Lutz and Commissioner Larry Sittre, with several approaching billion-dollar scale. Microsoft has multiple locations (arriving under codename "Project Rafter"), and Rowan Digital Infrastructure built a 440-acre facility for an undisclosed major tech tenant. Medina County sits in water-stressed territory governed by the Edwards Aquifer Authority, and operators gain water access simply by purchasing property. The county can't compel identity disclosure or capacity plans until late in the process.

The Houston Advanced Research Center projects Texas data centers will consume nearly 50 billion gallons this year, with data centers reaching roughly 7% of state water use by 2030. Medina County has almost no leverage once land changes hands. If EAA allocations tighten or community opposition escalates, developers could face retroactive constraints on projects already under construction.

[2]·[3]

Power

Gas Turbine Supply Crunch Forces Creative Sourcing as Texas Campuses Scale

Global Energy Monitor counts over 1,000 GW of gas-fired projects in development worldwide, up 31% in a year, with more than a third of new U.S. gas capacity earmarked for data centers. The catch: two-thirds of U.S. gas project developers haven't identified a turbine manufacturer. That bottleneck is producing novel solutions. Boom Supersonic signed a $1.25 billion deal with Crusoe for 29 jet-engine gas turbines serving OpenAI's Abilene campus. Meta's El Paso facility will run on 800-plus mobile mini-turbines. Caterpillar is supplying gas engines for a West Virginia site. The gap between announced capacity and deliverable hardware is the sector's most underappreciated execution risk. Cornell researchers estimate 44 million metric tons of annual CO2 by 2030 from this buildout alone.

[4]·[1]

Power/Water

DOE-Funded Cooling Moonshot Could Ease Both Pillars Simultaneously

Professor Dereje Agonafer's team at UT Arlington, backed by $42 million in ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS funding, is targeting a proof of concept by mid-2026 that would cut cooling from 40% of total facility power to under 5%. Partner Accelsius, an Austin startup with $24 million in Series A funding, is contributing its two-phase direct-to-chip liquid cooling hardware. ERCOT projects datacenter load will nearly double to 11% of grid demand by 2030; Texas datacenter water use could hit 2.7% of total state consumption by the same year. If liquid cooling scales, it attacks both constraints at once. "Proof of concept" and "commercial deployment across 400+ operating Texas facilities" are very different timelines, however. Whether this technology can reach production scale before the resource squeeze peaks is the question.

[3]

Politics

Community Opposition Tightens From Ohio to Washington, Creating Permitting Headwinds Nationally

Muhlenberg Township, Ohio imposed a 12-month moratorium on data centers after 700+ residents petitioned against a Pacifico Energy gas-plus-datacenter campus. Archbold, Ohio tabled its own moratorium amid NDA revelations linking a council member and village engineer to developer Iron Ridge. Washington State's House passed disclosure legislation (51-41) requiring data centers to report power and water usage. Meanwhile, India rolled out a 21-year tax holiday through 2047 to attract hyperscalers, and Data Center Watch research cited $98 billion in US projects delayed or cancelled between March and June 2025 due to community opposition.

US permitting friction is systemic, not episodic. Pacifico Energy's Texas pipeline (5 GW GW Ranch, 450 MW Fort Spunky near Dallas) could benefit if Ohio's regulatory tightening redirects capital, but Texas projects will face their own community dynamics as they scale. Disclosure mandates could be precursors to capacity caps if grid or water constraints worsen.

[5]·[6]·[7]·[8]

Sources we cited

8 articles across 8 publishers · 198 reviewed today

[1]Inside Climate News
Texas Grid Operators and Regulators Iron Out New Rules for Data Centers
Oct 10, 2025·Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in June that empowers the state’s grid operator to remotely disconnect data centers and other large ener…
[2]KSAT
The impact of billion-dollar data centers in water-stressed Medina County
Oct 3, 2025·Ryan Cerna, Digital News Trainee Henry Keller, Multimedia Brand Manager MEDINA COUNTY, Texas – Late at night, lights seep in through the w…
[3]Dallas Innovates
DOE-Funded UTA Project Tackles Cooling Costs in AI Data Center Boom
Sep 29, 2025·As AI infrastructure scales across Texas and the nation, a team at the University of Texas at Arlington is working to solve one of the secto…
[4]Truthout
Data Center Boom Is Fueling an Expansion of Natural Gas Projects
Feb 16, 2026·AI facilities may end up emitting carbon dioxide at levels equivalent to millions of passenger cars each year. Truthout is an indispensable…
[5]Data Center Dynamics
Muhlenberg, Ohio, introduces year-long moratorium on new data centers
Feb 17, 2026·Resident concerns over Pacifico data center and power plant scheme triggers ban on new developments The Ohio township of Muhlenberg has int…
[6]GeekWire
Washington state has embraced data centers – but now it’s looking to set terms of engagement
Feb 16, 2026·by Lisa Stiffler on Feb 16, 2026 at 7:00 amFebruary 16, 2026 at 10:28 am Lisa Karstetter grew up in Eastern Washington’s agricultural count…
[7]Northwest Signal
Archbold Council tables decision, discussion on data center moratorium
Feb 17, 2026·ARCHBOLD – Village council Monday tabled discussion and action regarding a moratorium on data centers and advanced manufacturing. This matt…
[8]American Kahani
India’s Hyperscale AI Data Hubs: The Implications of Tech Billionaires Marching In
Feb 18, 2026·India’s Budget 2026 included a significant corporate concession that received little media attention: an extraordinary 21-year tax holiday, …

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