6.5 GW Building, No Water Plan, No Local Consent

ERCOT's datacenter demand forecast just jumped from 29 GW to 77 GW by 2030, and the infrastructure to support it doesn't exist yet. Grid interconnection timelines have stretched past four years, projected water consumption could hit 161 billion gallons annually, and communities are fighting back: 140 residents packed a Stockdale meeting over aquifer depletion, San Marcos rejected its second datacenter proposal, and Hood County's moratorium attempt drew a same-day letter from a state senator warning counties can't say no. Hyperscalers aren't waiting for solutions. The GW Ranch project in West Texas is building its own gas-and-solar power plant across 8,000 acres, generating more electricity than Chicago, entirely off-grid. That solves a timeline problem for one developer while making the systemic gap harder to close for everyone else.