The Power Connection Digest Issue #68

August 13, 2026

Peter Cook, Editor

After a pretty quiet week last week, we have some huge announcements from Texas and Pennsylvania this week. I could try to tag all the companies involved, but there are too many. Amazon/Pacifico, Nvidia/Lancium, Fermi/TensorWave, SpaceX, and NextEra all get special mention.

I really wanted to keep the number of articles below 15, but I just couldn’t cut any of these. They are all worth a look. Check it out.

And we’d love your feedback on the proposed agenda for the Marcellus Power Conference (Pittsburgh on October 21-22) and the Data Center Energy Industry Update (November 2 in Houston). Check out the websites and give us any feedback on the agenda topics. If you are involved with power generation anywhere in Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New Mexico, Louisiana, or Oklahoma, you should give serious consideration to attending one of these!

And now, the news…

Amazon Is Behind One of the Largest Planned Gas Power Plants in the US

The company confirmed to Cleanview that it acquired the GW Ranch site in West Texas, where a 7.65 GW gas plant will power its first off-grid AI data center. Congrats to our friend Nate Franklin (CEO of Pacifico Energy) on the sale! Nate is scheduled to speak at the Data Center Energy Industry Update in Houston this November 2nd!

Amazon Joins Microsoft In The Emerging Permian Delaware Basin Hyperscale Data Center Trend

Pecos is becoming the next “Data Center Alley”…if you are not already reading Infill Thinking, you should be!

Nvidia’s $3 Billion Bet on Lancium Signals the Compute Landlord Thesis Has Reached the Power Layer

The bottleneck for AI has shifted from compute capacity to the electricity required to run it.

Fermi signs $6.5 billion lease for 'world's largest data center' after months of turmoil

Fermi signed a $6.5 billion lease with AI cloud provider TensorWave for part of its massive data center and power campus in the Texas Panhandle, securing its first binding customer agreement after months of financial, leadership and environmental controversy. They also named a new CEO and announced a deal with Hillcore to develop a 2.6GW site. Busy week for Fermi! Congrats!

Data-center backlash leads to new land rush in the Permian

Firms including Texas Pacific Land, LandBridge and EagleRock sit on land empires nestled in the Permian Basin, which spans West Texas and New Mexico. Their customers are oil-and-gas producers that pay for the right to build roads, drill wells and dispose of water that is produced alongside the oil they bring to the surface. Now, these landowners want a piece of the AI action.

More Data Center Operators Commit to Abbott’s Texas Standards as Power Companies Endorse ERCOT Batch Framework

QTS, Meta, OpenAI, Oracle, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Skybox, Digital Realty, Mara Holdings, Stream Data Centers, Equinix, Compass, Core Scientific, Vantage Data Centers, SB Energy, Rowan, CleanSpark, Blackstone, EdgeConneX, Montera Infrastructure, and a growing list of others have publicly committed to comply with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s data center standards and the state’s active audit of projects in the Texas grid operator’s interconnection queue.

Energy Vault signs 1.25GW power supply deal with Texas data center developer

Energy storage firm Energy Vault has signed a deal to supply battery energy storage systems (BESS), grid-forming power conversion systems, and AI infrastructure control software for a 1.25GW integrated power deployment at a hyperscale data center development in Texas.

SpaceX to power TeraFab chip factory in Texas via on-site generation and battery storage

SpaceX looks set to power its TeraFab semiconductor campus in Texas via on-site generation and battery storage, rather than seek a connection to the grid.

NextEra Energy, U.S. Department of Commerce and Government of Japan finalize commercial terms; reach funding milestone for up to 10 GW of gas-powered generation

NextEra Energy announced it has executed definitive agreements with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Government of Japan to fund the development and operation of up to 10 gigawatts of natural gas-powered generation in Texas and Pennsylvania.

PJM considering changes to interconnection reliability requirements for data centers following mass outage

The outage, which originated in Northern Virginia, brought approximately 4GW of data center load offline

PPL-Blackstone joint venture secures 5 GW of gas turbines for data centers in Pennsylvania

Although PJM aims to hold a backstop reliability auction in late September, PPL CEO Vincent Sorgi said he expects bilateral contracting will be the main pathway for adding generation.

Alpha Compute to buy Pennsylvania land, gas rights for $55 million data center campus, company says

AI infrastructure company Alpha Compute has signed a binding term sheet to acquire land and natural gas rights in Pennsylvania for $55 million ‌to develop a 200-megawatt data center campus, CEO Brittany Kaiser told Reuters on Tuesday.

Babcock & Wilcox Signs Agreement with Siemens Energy to Commence Work on 20 Steam Turbines for Data Center Power Generation

Babcock & Wilcox announced it has signed an agreement with Siemens Energy to commence work on 20 Siemens Energy steam turbine generator sets totaling 1 GW of generating capacity for use in its FastPower ℠ program for data center projects. This agreement is in addition to B&W’s previously announced turbine order.

Firm Power Is About to Stop Meaning What You Think It Means

Every passenger on an oversold flight has a valid ticket. That never stops the airline from bumping someone when it needs the seat back, and it never bumps at random. Elite status and a paid upgrade protect you. A basic fare does not. PJM just built the equivalent distinction into the rules governing which data centers keep their power on when the grid runs short, and I do not think enough people building projects right now have noticed which fare class they actually bought.

Chamath Palihapitiya on Power in AI

"Get your hands on power. It’s the spice."

OpenAI posted a job opening for "Power Trading Lead"

Nice catch, Chris Gillett! OpenAI has a job opening for someone responsible for developing and executing hedging strategies for power and gas for data centers. Is that type of role becomes widespread in the data center world, how could that impact your business?

Looking to stay connected in the rapidly evolving Permian Basin? Look no further than The Power Connection Digest.

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