Permian Power Digest Issue #15 - Permian Power Connection

July 16, 2025

Peter Cook, Editor

What a week for power generation announcements and analysis!

On top of that, I am having a great visit to Midland this week, meeting with speaker and sponsors for the Permian Power Connection Conference! Welcome to our new sponsors and supporting organizations: Northstar Energy Solutions, National Service Alliance, Texas Energy Group, and the Texas Nuclear Alliance! Thrilled to have you join us!

Data center power is an important topic, and we always have several articles in the Permian Power Digest on the topic. What is harder to find are announcements and articles on oilfield electrification, behind-the-meter partnerships, or power projects related to midstream, produced water, or sand activities. If you have any news, announcements, press releases, or in depth posts or analysis of your own to share, send it to power@powerpermian.com for us to consider including it!

And please connect with us on LinkedIn here or here or here!

Finally, let us know if you would be interested in advertising in the Permian Power Digest!

And now, the news…

The Energy Arms Race: Wild West Stampede for America's Excess Power

The American energy landscape has transformed into a digital-age gold rush, where excess megawatts are the new currency and everyone from Tesla to Bitcoin operations is staking claims.

SHARON AI Announces Several Milestones for Intended 250MW AI Data Center Joint Venture in Texas

TCDC, SHARON AI’s joint venture with New Era Helium has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent with a prospective global enterprise customer. Come hear from New Era Helium’s CEO at the Permian Power Connection Conference in September!

Panhandle Solar Group moving forward with development

“Right now, we can do either put the energy all into ERCOT, or we can sign a behind the meter deal with a potential user of the power, such as a data center or an industrial user.”

New technology turns Permian Basin oilfield wastewater into dry solids using flared gas

Powered by low-pressure flash evaporation, the solution uses waste flare gas as energy, reducing fuel cost while reducing emissions.

Data center activity ‘exploded’ in Texas, spiking reliability risks: monitor

AI data centers have power demand patterns similar to steel mills, with “very fast, very large ramps,” according to David Penny, director of reliability services for Texas RE.

Utilities Slowing Development Of Self-Powered Data Centers?

Data center developers are pursuing more projects with on-site generation to reduce their reliance on regional power grids, but industry leaders say the utilities that provide that grid power are often standing in the way.

The Pros and Cons of Behind-the-Meter Energy for Data Centers

Behind-the-meter energy solutions give data centers control over their power sources, offering sustainability and reliability benefits despite significant implementation challenges.

Trump touts $92B in data center, energy investments

Trump unveiled investments from 20 major energy and technology companies, including Google, CoreWeave and Blackstone, at Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-Pa.) star-studded event in Pittsburgh.

EQT to supply natural gas for massive Pennsylvania data center power plant

EQT said Tuesday it signed a deal to supply natural gas to power the 4.4 GW facility that will serve the Homer City Energy Campus, a planned 3,200-acre artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data center campus in Pennsylvania currently under construction and anticipated to begin producing power in 2027.

Data Centers are “The Next Big Thing” for Marcellus-Utica Natural Gas

According to Mark Caskey, founder and CEO of Steel Nation, supplying electricity for data centers is natural gas’s next big role.

Meta to invest "hundreds of billions of dollars into compute to build superintelligence," with several multi-GW data center clusters

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has aggressively ramped up the company's AI effort, spending hundreds of millions on key hires and billions on acquisitions, as the company looks to leapfrog competition.

Chart of the Day

Electricity prices continue to rise. Hat tip to Javier Blas!

AI Firms Pivot to Bitcoin Mining with Data Center Power

AI companies are now using excess data center power to mine Bitcoin — a move that could help stabilize electricity grids, improve energy efficiency, and boost the economics of both sectors, according to industry analysts.

Unveiling the Secrets: How Bitcoin operations from U.S. Gas Wells Function, Their Costs, and Whether They're Worth Your Investment!

What appears to be a fair look at the risks and potential rewards of bitcoin mining and investments.

Virtual Power Plants and Bitcoin Mining's Role

A virtual power plant (VPP) aggregates distributed energy resources (DERs)—such as solar panels, batteries, or flexible loads—into a unified system that provides grid services like demand response, frequency regulation, and peak shaving. Unlike traditional power plants,

Texas bill advances nuclear projects

A recent appropriation from the Texas legislature and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott directs funding to Texas Tech University to accelerate “produced water” research in partnership with Abilene Christian University and Natura Resources and to complete the construction of a molten salt research reactor at ACU.

Podcast: Reed Clay: The Texas Nuclear Alliance -- Energizing Robust Nuclear Growth

Reed Clay, who will be speaking at the Permian Power Connection Conference, shares insights on the rapid and compelling growth of the nuclear industry in the Lone Star state.

Podcast: Nuclear Goes Modular to Meet AI Demand with Aalo's Matt Loszak

Advanced nuclear may finally be having its moment – a second atomic age – thanks to the runaway demand growth of AI data centers. And Texas could lead the way.

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