Permian Basin, TX

July 7, 2026

In April 2025, the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a $13.8 billion, 765-kilovolt transmission strategy for the Permian Basin, ERCOT's first extra-high-voltage backbone, betting deliberately that transmission corridors drive site selection the way CREZ accidentally did for wind and later data centers.

June 23, 2026

Greenfield builds architected for liquid cooling from day one in the Permian Basin or West Texas now have a credible near-zero-water path; late movers retrofit at a premium and face stricter water scrutiny.

June 9, 2026

ERCOT enters summer 2026 with North America's largest reserve margin and 58 GW of new on-peak capacity additions, but NERC flags western ERCOT (Permian Basin) transmission as a binding constraint.

April 5, 2026

Chevron and Microsoft signed an exclusivity agreement to negotiate a 2.5-to-5 GW colocated gas-and-compute campus in the Permian Basin.

March 13, 2026

The PUC's $13-14 billion Permian Basin Reliability Plan calls for 260 transmission lines by 2038, anchored by three 765 kV lines, the highest-capacity in the state.

February 12, 2026

Operators relying on behind-the-meter wells or private water contracts face new disclosure obligations that could complicate site selection in drought-prone West Texas, the Permian Basin, and Central Texas.

February 7, 2026

In the Permian Basin, Natura Resources (holding the first federal construction permit for a liquid-fueled molten salt reactor) is partnering with NGL Water Solutions to pair a 100-MWe reactor with thermal desalination of produced water, a power-and-water play targeting Texas's twin bottlenecks.