Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Ride-Through Becomes the New Phase I Discipline for Texas Sites

Ride-through compliance, water disclosures in SpaceX's S-1, and rural Republican backlash all landed in the same news cycle, and they share a single mechanic: the variables that used to be Phase II problems now decide whether a Texas site clears Phase I. Developers who fold ERCOT ride-through, water offsets, and county-level engagement into initial design are converting friction into queue position while Illinois suspends credits and Virginia courts halt projects.

Today's Lead

ERCOT's board votes Tuesday on ride-through rules that would require data centers to stay online during grid disturbances or face disconnection penalties, with the Public Utility Commission of Texas likely to finalize later this year. Other grid operators are already using ERCOT's proposed parameters as a blueprint, per Terraflow Energy CTO Ian Rock.

The vote lands the same week Hood County commissioners face eight proposed data centers totaling 7,600 acres without zoning authority to slow them, and as SoftBank commits €75 billion to 5 GW of French capacity, citing power availability as the decisive variable. Texas is writing the operating manual the rest of the grid will follow.

[1]·[2]·[3]

Power

ERCOT's ride-through rules turn reliability into a site-selection variable

ERCOT votes Tuesday on rules forcing data centers to ride through temporary disruptions or face disconnection. The Texas Blockchain Council and Texas Industrial Energy Consumers have filed comments challenging ERCOT's statutory authority, and Data Center Coalition VP Aaron Tinjum is pushing for hardware-realistic parameters. Texas A&M's Prasad Enjeti laid out the engineering case: a single large facility tripping offline can cascade across the system.

The Southwest Power Pool already runs similar rules and PJM is watching. Developers who design battery backup and grid-stress response into Phase I, and engage the PUCT before final order, convert a compliance bill into queue advantage. Those treating ride-through as a retrofit will pay twice and ship late.

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Power

Power-first site selection is now the global default

SoftBank's €75 billion French commitment began with EDF packaging a 400 MW site at its former Bouchain thermal plant and running a competitive process. Jigar Shah and Synergy's John Dinsdale both confirm power availability has overtaken every other site-selection variable. JLL projects Texas will capture 30% of the U.S. market by 2028 as Northern Virginia and Atlanta interconnection delays stretch three to four years.

Rowan Digital Infrastructure's $3 billion Temple campus shows the Texas version working: 700 acres, 300 MW Phase I, no new electrical infrastructure required, water recirculation built in from the start. Blackstone-backed capital is rewarding that discipline. Developers still hunting power after land acquisition are already a cycle behind.

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Water

SpaceX's S-1 makes water an investor-grade risk

SpaceX's June IPO prospectus lists water scarcity, drought, and local competition alongside electricity and silicon as core constraints on AI infrastructure. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory pegs 2023 direct U.S. data center water use at 17 billion gallons, with indirect consumption from generation cooling at 211 billion, a 12x multiplier that could double to quadruple by 2028.

Rowan's Temple recirculation design is the template. The Hood County developer telling the local water district it needed 95 million gallons over seven years, then emailing a revised figure of "less than 50,000 gallons per day," is the cautionary version. Water districts are reading both. Developers who secure offsets and engage water authorities before permitting will move; those still treating water as a line item will discover what SpaceX disclosed to shareholders.

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Sources we cited

7 articles across 7 publishers · 321 reviewed today

[1]E&E News
Texas takes aim at threat of ‘cascading’ outages
Jun 2, 2026·U.S. grid managers are warning that data centers could trigger blackouts if they suddenly trip offline — and companies are looking to Texas …
[2]Texas Tribune
Eight data centers threaten to transform this small Texas county. Local officials say they have no power to stop them.
Jun 2, 2026·This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. HOOD COUNTY — Brian Crawford points to the top of a hill northwest of his family’s home ga…
[3]Datacenter Knowledge
SoftBank’s $85B France Bet Puts Power at Center of AI Race
Jun 1, 2026·The company plans up to 5 GW of AI infrastructure in France, where EDF is turning former power plant sites into data center campuses and ele…
[4]RSM US
Data centers enter a power-constrained era for real estate developers
Jun 2, 2026·Power access, not land or capital, now determines which data center projects move forward. Developers are redesigning projects around megaw…
[5]REBusinessOnline
Rowan Digital Infrastructure Receives $3B in Construction Financing for Data Center Campus in Temple, Texas
Jun 1, 2026·TEMPLE, TEXAS — Rowan Digital Infrastructure, a Denver-based data center owner-operator backed by Blackstone (NYSE: BX), has received $3 bil…
[6]PANews
"Water shortage"—the hidden Achilles' heel of AI infrastructure
Jun 2, 2026·In June 2026, SpaceX revised its prospectus before going public. The revisions don't concern rocket technology, satellite internet, or Mars…
[7]The Tech Buzz
SpaceX IPO Filing Flags Water Access as Critical Risk
Jun 1, 2026·SpaceX just added an unexpected line item to its IPO risk factors: water. The rocket company disclosed in its public offering documents that…

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