Texas Leads in Power Plants | Reading and Podcast Picks - August 16th, 2026
Where to find data center information; Texas on top in power plants; Amazon's new data center; and how supply constraints on growth.
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Where to find information about data centers in Texas | Texas Tribune
As the data center picture continues to complexify, a new guide from The Texas Tribune lays out where Texans can look for information about proposed data centers near them. They advise on:
How to find how much water a data center will use
How to find how much electricity a data center will use
Who owns a data center’s property or land?
How to find information about data centers through local government
And where planned construction projects will take place.
While utility-scale solar accounted for the largest share of new U.S. generating capacity in the first half of 2026, Texas has a mixed picture.
Three states account for about half of the country’s new generating capacity: Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
Texas was the leader, with a power mix that leaned more heavily on batteries and gas than other states. The leading category in Texas was batteries, with 3,067 megawatts, followed by utility-scale solar, with 2,311 megawatts, and then natural gas combustion turbines or natural gas internal combustion engines, with 1,154 megawatts.
A chart from the publication shows Texas in the lead.
