Reading and Podcast Picks is a collection of what we’ve been reading and listening to over the last week or so about energy topics.
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US Power-Demand Forecast Cut After Texas Pause on Data Centers | Bloomberg
Projected electricity sales growth in 2027 fell from 2.9 percent last month to 1.8 percent this month. Analysts say this change is a result of Texas’ paused data center construction.
The revision comes after Texas last month ordered an audit of proposed data center projects seeking to connect to the state’s power grid, a requirement that has effectively halted development. Texas’ grid operator is considering about 474 gigawatts of connection requests, more than five times the state’s record peak demand. One gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the output of a traditional nuclear reactor.
Disbanding city-owned utilities won’t lower costs, officials say | The Texas Tribune
On the campaign trail last month, Gov. Greg Abbot proposed ending municipality owned utilities, arguing that increased competition would lead to lower prices for consumers.
San Antonio and Austin have the state’s two largest city-owned electric utilities, which say they offer among the cheapest electricity rates in the state because they operate as nonprofit electric companies that send every dollar they earn back to their communities, city and utility officials said. That money funds city services like libraries, parks and first responder operations, and the governor’s proposal would actually drive up electric rates for customers and be costly to enact, they said.
