⭐ Morning Briefing — September 15, 2026

(Latest updates through September 15, 2026)

Top Story: Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Water Development Board to criminally and civilly penalize data centers that dodge the state's mandatory water-use survey — after records show as few as 28-30% of surveyed data centers have actually responded in recent years — folding water compliance directly into the same ERCOT interconnection audit that's already holding up new grid connections.

📰 Today's News

1. 💧 Abbott Orders Criminal and Civil Penalties for Data Centers That Dodge Water Reporting

Gov. Abbott on Sept. 14 directed the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to "use its enforcement authority to penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply" with the state's water-use survey, according to the governor's office. A data center that fails to complete the survey commits an offense punishable as a Class C misdemeanor and becomes ineligible for TCEQ permits, amendments, or renewals.
The Texas Tribune reported the same day that compliance has been low: when TWDB surveyed 22 data centers in 2023, only 32% responded; of 67 surveyed in 2024, 28% responded; of 329 surveyed in 2025, only about 30% responded — and of the 267 facilities newly added to the list last year, just 22.5% responded.
Among the state's biggest water users identified in the 2025 survey: a Bitdeer facility in Rockdale that used more than 300 million gallons in a year — comparable to a town of about 3,500 people — plus a Google facility in Midlothian (Ellis County) and QTS and Meta facilities in Fort Worth (Tarrant County).
Abbott directed TWDB to coordinate with the PUC and ERCOT on the data-center interconnection audit he ordered Aug. 3, which already requires water-consumption, water-source, and cooling-technology disclosures before a project can connect to the grid — and gave TWDB until Oct. 14 to report back on its own enforcement progress.
TWDB itself has previously said it has no authority to prosecute anyone, since it's a non-regulatory agency; enforcement in practice falls to local district attorneys and law enforcement, per the Tribune's reporting.

Today's Signal: This is the first time water reporting — as opposed to grid interconnection — carries the explicit threat of a criminal referral and a permit block, and it puts two of this briefing's own tracked counties, Ellis and Tarrant, directly in the frame as homes to some of the state's thirstiest facilities.

2. ⚡ ERCOT Finishes Its First Full Batch-Zero Classification: 362 Projects, 191.8 GW

ERCOT has completed a conditional classification of 362 large-load interconnection requests totaling 191.8 GW, with 204 of those projects — 66.4 GW — classified as base load and eligible to proceed through Batch Zero, according to RTO Insider's Sept. 14 report.
That classification is the population now subject to the sworn, notarized verification demands ERCOT began sending Sept. 9 (reported in Sunday's briefing) — meaning the 66.4 GW of newly base-load-eligible projects are exactly the ones that now have to prove under oath that they own their land and have posted their money, or lose their spot.
Separately, a Dallas Morning News Watchdog column raised an angle this briefing hasn't covered before: cybersecurity. Citing Strauss Center researcher Francesca Lockhart, the column noted that a coordinated cyberattack hitting many data centers "simultaneously" could have "a cascading negative effect on grid stability" — a concern raised as Texas's year-old Texas Cyber Command (roughly $70 million budgeted, 65 staff) and a new federal-state pilot, Project Watershed 250, focus on defending water systems and other infrastructure from hacking groups that have already probed small Texas water utilities.

Today's Signal: ERCOT now has a real number attached to "Batch Zero" for the first time — 66.4 GW base-load-eligible out of 191.8 GW reviewed — which gives the next few weeks' verification-RFI responses something concrete to shrink or hold steady against.

3. 🏘️ The Zoning Power Vacuum Runs Through Every County Fight — Hood, Ellis, Collin

A Dallas Morning News feature published today traces a common thread through this year's data-center fights: Texas counties have essentially no zoning power over unincorporated land, leaving rural residents — like Hood County's Laura and Brian Crawford, who live next to the proposed Comanche Circle site — able to speak at public meetings but unable to vote out the officials approving projects next door.
The same piece updates the Westlake/Marshall Ridge dispute: the temporary restraining order that's been blocking Westlake's data-center agreement has been extended to a court hearing now set for Sept. 25, and reports that two Red Oak, Ellis County residents filed suit this month over whether that city's rezoning of an 830-acre tract was legally adopted.
Collin County officials discussed adding new guardrails to data-center development — particularly around noise — according to WFAA, though the station's coverage was not accessible beyond that headline detail today.
In Hood County, Granbury's city council continued discussing setback-distance options for data centers at a Project Patriot meeting, per Hood County community pages, building on the 1,000-foot buffer debate the council has been working through since August.

Today's Signal: Every one of these fights — Hood, Ellis, Collin — ends at the same legal wall: cities can zone and negotiate, counties mostly can't, and that gap is exactly where new projects keep landing.

4. 🏢 Crusoe Signs Its First Texas Office, a Short Drive From Its 2.1 GW Abilene Site

Crusoe AI is set to begin, this week, the interior finish-out of a new corporate office on the 21st and 22nd floors of 23Springs, Uptown Dallas's tallest tower — a roughly $9 million buildout expected to finish by December, according to The Dallas Morning News, citing a state filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
It's the company's first Texas office, alongside its existing large-scale data-center campus in Abilene, which has a total projected capacity of 2.1 gigawatts. Crusoe is one of several data-center firms that has said it will comply with Gov. Abbott's audit guidelines.
The lease adds Crusoe to a group of new tenants — including law firm King & Spalding and Prudential's PGIM — that pushed 23Springs to 95% occupancy this summer.

Today's Signal: Even as opposition mounts county by county, the companies building the actual sites are planting a flag in downtown Dallas — a sign the industry expects to be negotiating in Texas for a while yet.

Quiet today on data-center-specific developments in Johnson, Denton, Wise, and Parker counties beyond what's already on the record.

📍 Today's Watch List

Actionable Signals for Tuesday, September 15

Whether TWDB actually refers any noncompliant data center for criminal prosecution or TCEQ permit disqualification ahead of its Oct. 14 update to the governor's office.
Whether the Sept. 25 court hearing produces a ruling on the Westlake/Marshall Ridge temporary restraining order.
Whether Collin County commissioners turn today's noise-guardrail discussion into an actual ordinance proposal.
Whether the Red Oak rezoning lawsuit in Ellis County gets a hearing date.
Whether the 66.4 GW of newly base-load-eligible ERCOT projects clear the Batch Zero sworn-verification requests due back in late September.
ERCOT's December 10 audit-completion deadline and the roughly 250-300 projects (~200 GW) in the first review batch — no material movement expected before the December PUC meeting, so this stays at the bottom of the list until that date approaches.