⭐ Morning Briefing — October 14, 2026

(Wednesday, October 14, 2026)

Top Story: Hood County commissioners turned down Sailfish Investors' Comanche Circle settlement 3-1 and unanimously rejected its permit appeal. Developer Ryan Hughes told the room, "It looks like we're unfortunately going to court."

📰 Today's News

1. ⚖️ Hood County Rejects Sailfish's Settlement and Permit Appeal, and the Developer Says He's Headed to Court

On Tuesday, Hood County commissioners voted 3-1 to reject Sailfish Investors' settlement offer for the Comanche Circle data center and two smaller Sailfish projects, Project Lion and Project Panther, KERA/TPR and The Dallas Morning News reported. Judge Ron Massingill and Commissioners Jack Wilson and Dave Eagle voted to reject it. Kevin Andrews voted no, and Nannette Samuelson was absent.
Commissioners then voted unanimously to deny Sailfish's appeal of the county's denial of its on-site permit applications. The roughly 75 people in the room gave the vote a standing ovation.
The rejected deal would have cut the project's Hood County footprint from about 2,523 acres to roughly 1,375 and added commitments on setbacks, cooling, lighting and road repairs. Andrews argued for continuing to negotiate and said the county had been "offered concessions that we can't regulate."
The Star-Telegram reported that commissioners and Protect the Paluxy Valley members said Sailfish never submitted proper plans or information on drainage, power generation or water supply. Hughes told commissioners before the vote, "It looks like we're unfortunately going to court," and said afterward he was "ready for the fight."
Adam Friedman, the attorney for Protect the Paluxy Valley, called the proposal "an application for an exemption to all of the rules" and said Hughes's legal threats aren't credible. The Dallas Morning News counts at least eight data center plans in the county over the past year, along with two failed moratorium votes.

Today's Signal: Hood County picked the lawsuit over the deal, and it did so on the record: the denial rests on missing drainage, power and water information. If Sailfish sues, its case will be that the county is running an unwritten moratorium. The county's defense will be that it applied its own subdivision rules to an application that didn't meet them.

2. 🏭 Bastrop County Asks TCEQ for a Public Meeting on Pacifico's Gas Plant, and TCEQ Says the Pause Holds

Bastrop County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to ask TCEQ to hold a public meeting on Pacifico Energy's proposed data centers and natural gas power plant, KVUE, KXAN and KEYE reported. Pacifico has proposed two data centers and a gas plant on land that a local group says covers 2,842 acres near Earl Callahan Road.
Residents also complained that they were never told about the county's 2024 approval and tax incentives for EdgeConneX's three data center campuses on roughly 1,400 acres along FM 535. One woman building a home less than half a mile from the planned gas plant asked where the air dispersion modeling was.
A TCEQ spokesperson told KVUE that, on Gov. Abbott's direction, the agency has paused all air and water permits tied to data center construction while ERCOT audits planned projects, and will give the governor's office a full compliance update by Oct. 19. Pacifico said it will comply with TCEQ requirements.

Today's Signal: A county asking TCEQ for a public meeting is unusual, and it shows how much pressure local officials are under after approving EdgeConneX with little notice. TCEQ's statement also gives the Oct. 19 update a broader scope than the Maypearl-area NRG plant: it now needs to say whether a gas plant built for a data center counts as a "data center" permit.

3. 💧 Abbott's Water-Survey Crackdown Comes With a $500 Maximum Fine

The penalty the governor and Attorney General Ken Paxton are invoking against data centers that skipped state water-use surveys is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500, The Texas Tribune reported today. The Texas Water Development Board says it can't prosecute, and state officials don't know whether any fines have been issued.
Records the Tribune obtained show 334 data center facilities were surveyed between 2020 and 2025. Of those, 233 never submitted a survey. Of the 329 surveyed in 2025, only about 30% responded. The 97 that did respond reported 1.4 billion gallons of use last year.
The other penalties are limited too. Experts told the Tribune that data centers generally aren't eligible for the state water funding the board could withhold, and a TCEQ official said the law doesn't let the state revoke or suspend permits it has already issued. The water board's progress report to the governor is due today, Oct. 14.

Today's Signal: The water-survey threat is mostly a request for information. The real leverage is the permit pause and the 2027 legislative session, which begins in January. That's when a $500 fine could become a much larger one.

4. 🔋 AMD Backs Fermi's First Project Matador Lease in the Panhandle

Fermi America said Tuesday it signed a credit support agreement with AMD for the 222 MW phase one lease at Project Matador in Carson County. The company called it a key step toward project financing. The two companies also signed a framework for up to 650 MW of future expansion.
Fermi says it has invested more than $1.5 billion in the site and plans to supply power behind the meter on a private grid. The company projects the campus could eventually reach about 17 GW, depending on signing binding customer agreements. Shares closed up 14.46% at $3.72, Yahoo Finance reported.

Today's Signal: The NRC's review of Fermi's reactors gets most of the attention, but AMD is the first named company backing the money side of Matador. The 17 GW figure is still conditional on customers, while the 222 MW lease is the part that's real.

5. 🏜️ El Paso's Three Campuses Could Emit Up to 10 Million Tons a Year, and TCEQ Never Asked

A Texas Tribune, El Paso Matters and ProPublica investigation published today found that the power plants for Oracle's Project Jupiter in New Mexico and Meta's El Paso data center could together emit up to 10 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. In 2019, El Paso and Hudspeth counties combined emitted 8.4 million tons. A third campus planned at Fort Bliss is expected to use 3 GW, likely from gas turbines.
TCEQ doesn't require greenhouse gas disclosures, so El Paso Electric didn't have to submit one. TCEQ approved the standard permit for the Meta plant 20 days after it was filed. El Paso Electric is still waiting for PUC approval to build the plant, and a decision could come later this year.
State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, said the governor's data center directives don't address local control and called them only a starting point for next session.

Today's Signal: Texas reviews these plants one permit at a time and counts only local pollutants, so nobody in the process adds up the combined climate impact of a regional cluster. The PUC's decision on El Paso Electric's Meta plant is the next point where a state agency could look at the bigger picture.

6. 🏛️ Denton Studies a Moratorium, With a Supermajority Vote Set for Dec. 1

Denton officials held a work session Tuesday on a report about whether a temporary pause on data center development is justified, WFAA reported. A public hearing comes next, then a second hearing and the first reading of the moratorium ordinance in about two weeks.
The City Council is set to decide on Dec. 1, and the moratorium needs a supermajority to pass. WFAA reported that no vote was taken at Tuesday's session. We couldn't find a report on what happened to the code amendments that had been listed for the same day.

Today's Signal: Requiring a supermajority makes a moratorium much harder to pass than an ordinary vote. Watch which council members commit to it publicly before Dec. 1.

7. 🗳️ Hinojosa Calls for a Halt in Dallas as Abbott's Message Changes

At a Dallas press conference Tuesday, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa called for halting data center development in Texas until lawmakers pass protections. She also demanded more transparency on developers' tax breaks, WFAA and FOX 4 reported. "People are big mad in Texas about the data centers," she said.
WFAA noted that Abbott celebrated Google's $40 billion Texas investment last November. Since the rural backlash, he has paused state permit approvals pending power and water audits and said he wants incentives eliminated. Asked about the polls, Abbott told WFAA he feels "pretty good about where things are."

Today's Signal: Hinojosa wants a halt until lawmakers act, and Abbott has paused approvals until the audits are done. Both are pauses, so the difference is who decides when building resumes: the Legislature or the governor's agencies.

8. 🚰 Austin Weighs Water Budgets and San Antonio Hears From Residents Before Its Rules Are Written

Austin Water told a community task force Tuesday that it's considering conservation plans, annual reporting and water budgets for facilities that use more than 85 million gallons a year, KVUE reported. The task force has recommended requiring data centers to use nonpotable water in closed-loop cooling, and utility staff said that may be "a reasonable measure." Public comment is open through Oct. 18, and recommendations go to a council committee on Dec. 9.
In San Antonio, District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan held a town hall Tuesday with the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance and Public Citizen as the city drafts data center rules for its Unified Development Code, KSAT reported. Galvan said the city has just under 30 data centers, and 18 or 19 of them are in his district.

Today's Signal: The state law the Tribune examined has a $500 maximum fine. Austin's water budgets would be a utility condition of service, which a city can enforce without taking anyone to court.

9. ⚙️ Taylor's Developers Confirm the Campus Will Run on Its Own Gas Power

In a release about last Thursday's approval, Big Watt Digital and PowerHouse Data Centers said the Taylor Technology Campus will use dedicated behind-the-meter natural gas generation, with power expected in the first half of 2028, w.media reported. The 664-acre site could support up to 1 GW.
They said the development agreement sets project-specific standards for water use, stormwater, setbacks, lighting and noise, and includes developer-funded improvements to Taylor's reclaimed-water system.

Today's Signal: The developers now confirm the on-site power plant is gas and give a 2028 power date. That plant will need a TCEQ air permit, and TCEQ isn't issuing those for data center projects right now.

10. 📊 Forbes Lays Out the Funnel Behind ERCOT's 474 GW Queue

A Forbes analysis published Tuesday traced the audit funnel. About 474 GW of requested load sits in the queue, compared with a record peak of about 91 GW. ERCOT has conditionally placed 66.4 GW in Batch Zero as base load and left 302.2 GW out. Approved large loads drew only 46% of their approved 9,456 MW at July's peak.
ERCOT also said only about 18% of 290 dynamic models were acceptable on first review. Its eligibility and community-impact reports are due Dec. 10, and the PUC discusses them at its Dec. 17 open meeting.

Today's Signal: The number that matters in December is how many megawatts are still standing after notarized attestations. Every county fighting a project, including Hood, has a stake in that count.

No new ERCOT news releases or PUC large-load docket actions turned up, and we found no new TCEQ air-permit notices in the eight DFW-area counties we track.

📍 Today's Watch List

Whether Sailfish Investors files suit against Hood County, and in which court, now that both the settlement and the permit appeal have been rejected.
The Texas Water Development Board's enforcement update to the governor, due today, including whether any noncompliant facilities have been referred to local prosecutors.
TCEQ's Oct. 19 compliance update, and whether it responds to Bastrop County's request for a public meeting or explains how gas plants built for data centers fit under the pause.
The comment and hearing-request deadlines on TCEQ's preliminary decision for NRG's Prairie Energy Center near Maypearl.
Denton's next moratorium hearing and first reading, expected in about two weeks, ahead of the Dec. 1 supermajority vote.
Austin Water's public survey, which closes Oct. 18, and its Dec. 9 recommendations to the council committee.
San Antonio's draft data center rules as they move toward a council vote.
Talarico's CNN town hall tonight and the start of early voting on Oct. 19.
The PUC's decision on El Paso Electric's power plant for Meta.
When Fermi announces project financing for Matador phase one, and the NRC comment deadline on Nov. 23.
ERCOT's Dec. 10 audit reports and the PUC's Dec. 17 open meeting. Nothing material is expected there before December.