Friday, September 25, 2026

Oct. 14 TWDB Deadline Now Carries Class C Exposure in 18 Counties

Attorney General Ken Paxton's water probe spans 18 counties including Tarrant, and the Oct. 14 TWDB deadline now carries Class C exposure. Operators who validate Dallas warmer-loop WUE cuts and lock ERCOT RFI by October 12 keep sites moving; those who don't won't protect schedule against TCEQ's undefined freeze.

Today's Lead

Attorney General Ken Paxton's office opened a criminal investigation into data center water-use reporting across 18 Texas counties, the first prosecutorial move in a seven-week state oversight stack. Failure to return Texas Water Development Board surveys is a Class C misdemeanor and blocks TCEQ permits, renewals, and TWDB financial assistance until filings are complete.

The probe follows Governor Greg Abbott's September 14 TWDB enforcement order and the September 21 TCEQ permit halt; compliance updates are due to the Governor's office by October 14 (TWDB) and October 19 (TCEQ). Operators in Harris, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant, and the other named counties who still owe surveys face queue delay, permit denial, and now criminal exposure in the same window.

[1]·[2]

NATIONAL CONTEXT

Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed an executive order setting statewide review standards for data centers 25 MW or larger, with a multi-agency task force issuing Aligned, Conditionally Aligned, or Not Aligned determinations and a monthly public dashboard on load, water, and approvals. Moore also asked the General Assembly to repeal the state's data-center sales-and-use tax exemption, a step the order cannot finish alone.

On federal land, Rhea Data filed a BLM right-of-way for a 4 million-square-foot campus with on-site gas generation south of Boise; Boise Mayor Lauren McLean and the Idaho Sierra Club opposed at pre-NEPA stage. Texas-based Skylar Capital Opportunities withdrew a 1,000 MW Henderson, Nevada BLM hyperscale and gas application over conflict with city urban planning. Oracle issued a force majeure notice on Project Jupiter, a 2.45 GW fuel-cell campus near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, citing unresolved air-permit timing and a Transwestern pipeline delay to February, while stating the project remains on track.

[3]·[4]·[5]·[6]

Politics

TCEQ Freeze Scope Still Undefined for Non-ERCOT Loads [UPDATE]

TCEQ has frozen air and water permits for data centers under Abbott's September 21 directive, yet has not stated whether the pause covers projects under 25 MW, outside ERCOT territory, or on behind-the-meter and merchant paths. ERCOT's State and Community Impact RFI closes October 12; TCEQ reports to Abbott by October 19; ERCOT reports to the PUCT on December 10.

A Hood County filing in PUCT Control No. 58317 presses hard verification of ownership, location, demand, energization schedules, and onsite generation before large-load requests justify transmission spend against an interconnection backlog above 300 GW. Bottom line: clarify your project's place inside or outside ERCOT's RFI band before October 12, or carry permitted-site cost through an undefined TCEQ branch.

[7]·[8]·[3]

Power

Meta's 1 GW El Paso Campus Hits Ratepayer-Cost Test [NEW]

Meta's $10 billion, 1 GW El Paso campus is still advancing while broader data-center permitting is paused. El Paso Electric seeks PUCT approval for the McCloud facility: 813 modular Enchanted Rock units at roughly 366 MW nameplate and $499 million, sized to serve the campus.

Administrative law judges proposed approval only if capital and operating costs stay off ratepayers for the structure under review; without that condition they recommend denial. No commissioner vote is scheduled. Bottom line: dedicated generation tied to an anchor load now needs documented alternatives and cost-effectiveness, or the file stalls at the commissioners.

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Grid

Behind-the-Meter Fuel Lines Set 2028 Energization Clocks [NEW]

Woodway Energy Infrastructure signed definitive agreements for a 22-mile, 30-inch natural gas pipeline feeding behind-the-meter generation at an unnamed hyperscale campus, commercial service targeted for H1 2028 pending approvals. The pattern matches other private-generation deals that bypass ERCOT queue position by locking fuel first.

National scale compresses the same window: Meta's Louisiana Hyperion targets 43.8 TWh annually by 2032 on a $50 billion build; Amazon's Susquehanna campus is tagged at 16.8 TWh and $20 billion; Vantage Port Washington is modeled at 11.4 TWh by 2028. Bottom line: pipeline corridor, fabrication slot, and Railroad Commission or FERC timing are now separate critical paths, not afterthoughts to interconnection.

[11]·[10]·[12]

Water

Warmer Liquid Loops Cut Dallas WUE Two-Thirds [NEW]

Schneider Electric modeling on 100 MW AI halls shows raising technology cooling supply from 32°C to 45°C cut water-usage effectiveness roughly 66% in Dallas and 82% in Paris on Nvidia Vera Rubin liquid-cooled clusters. The warmer loop widens dry-cooler range and delays chillers; about 33% of installed cooling capacity read as surplus in the shift, a capex trade for lower WUE.

Moving from air to 32°C liquid already trimmed Dallas water use 8% with a 7% PUE gain; the 45°C step is incremental water savings without material energy win. Bottom line: Texas operators under TWDB and AG scrutiny should validate vendor inlet ratings and dry-cooler oversize against county survey exposure before locking the plant design.

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Technology

800V DC Becomes the AI Rack Density Path [CONTEXT]

NVIDIA racks at 200 kW today are modeled toward 600 kW to 1 MW this decade, a current load conventional 415/480V AC distribution handles poorly at campus scale. NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft are aligning on 800V DC through the Open Compute Project; sidecar conversion lets existing AC plants retrofit before a full medium-voltage-to-DC backbone.

McKinsey estimates 15-18% capital and 8-10% energy operating savings in dense AI configurations, with wide variance by layout. Bottom line: greenfield electrical design locked this year either captures that density dividend or carries stranded low-voltage gear through the next rack generation.

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Sources we cited

14 articles across 13 publishers · 413 reviewed today

[1]Fort Worth Report
Data centers in Tarrant among those being probed as Texas AG demands water usage response
Sep 24, 2026·Hubs that fail to submit required annual water survey risk eligibility for environmental permits as the state cracks down.
[2]The National Law Review
Texas Escalates Data Center Oversight with Attorney General Water-Use Investigation
Sep 24, 2026·On September 24, the Texas Attorney General’s office announced an investigation into hundreds of data center developments across the state, …
[3]Newsweek
Maryland Sets AI Guardrails as States Confront Data Center Boom
Sep 24, 2026·Maryland is tightening its rules for data centers, joining a growing number of states pushing back on the industry's demands for power, wate…
[4]Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Proposed data center on BLM land draws resistance - Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Sep 24, 2026·BOISE — A new data center project has been proposed on federal public land holdings south of Boise in what would be the largest development …
[5]Las Vegas Review-Journal
Developer pulls out of hyperscale data center, natural gas plant proposed on BLM land in Henderson - Las Vegas Review-Journal
Sep 24, 2026·The data center would have been built on public land owned by the Bureau of Land Management, mere miles away from a master planned community…
[6]El Paso Matters
Oracle says Project Jupiter remains on track despite power supply concerns
Sep 24, 2026·Oracle could delay some rent payments for up to three years if Project Jupiter’s power supply is not ready on time, according to a force maj…
[7]TechTarget
TCEQ’s data center permit freeze may reach beyond ERCOT review
Sep 24, 2026·A Texas environmental regulator has halted air and water permits and other authorizations for infrastructure directly supporting data center…
[8]PUCT Interchange Filings
PUCT Control No. 58317 Item 75: Public Comment on SB 6 Implementation: Large-Load Verification, Transparency, Infrastructure Accountability, and Community Impacts
Sep 23, 2026·Filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas on 2026-09-23. Control Number: 58317 Item Number: 75 Item Type: PC Utility Type: O Filing …
[9]insideclimatenews.org
Texas Electric Utility Only Considered Gas to Power $10 Billion Meta Data Center
Sep 24, 2026·EL PASO—While Texas officials have hit pause on data center permitting, one project that is still moving ahead is Meta’s $10 billion, 1-giga…
[10]Visual Capitalist
These Data Centers Could Use More Power Than Major Cities
Sep 24, 2026·Data centers are drawing increasing scrutiny across the United States as their electricity and water requirements grow alongside the country…
[11]pipeline-journal.net
Woodway Energy to Build 22-Mile Natural Gas Pipeline for Hyperscale Data Center - pipeline-journal.net
Sep 24, 2026·Woodway Energy Infrastructure has signed definitive agreements to develop, own, and operate a 22-mile natural gas pipeline designed to fuel …
[12]Data Center Dynamics
The trillion-dollar buildout lands in Las Vegas: Yotta 2026 opens next week
Sep 25, 2026·Yotta has doubled in size again, with more than 6,500 registered attendees set to convene at Caesars Forum September 28-30 In less than one…
[13]TechTarget
AI data centers can run hot to stay cool: report
Sep 24, 2026·AI data center operators can cut direct onsite water use by sending warmer water through their liquid-cooling systems, according to a Schnei…
[14]Environment+Energy Leader
Why 800V DC Is Reshaping AI Data Center Power
Sep 23, 2026·The underlying case for higher-voltage distribution is becoming clearer as AI rack densities rise.Bloom's analysis tracks typical rack power…

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