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3 things to know: Houston energy events not to miss, podcast to listen to, and more

Here are three things to know in Houston energy transition news this week. Photo via Getty Images

Editor's note: It's a new week — start it strong with three quick things to catch up on in Houston's energy transition: events not to miss, a podcast to stream, and more.

Events not to miss

Add these events to your radar:

  • December 4 - Pumps & Pipes Annual Event is Houston's premier innovation gathering bringing together cross-industry leaders for engaging discussions and top tier networking opportunities. Register.
  • December 7 - Greentown Labs Investor Speaker Series: Both Sides of the Coin will host a thoughtful fireside chat followed by networking. Register.
  • December 19 — UH Tech Bridge's Innov8Hub Pitch Day is your last chance of the year to network with industry experts, and discover the next big thing. Register.

Deadline to be aware of: EnergyTech UP

Transocean, a Switzerland-based offshore energy leader with its United States headquarters in Houston, kicked off its Transocean Open Innovation Challenge this fall. The original deadline has been extended to December 15, and the program is in partnership with the Ion. The submission page is available online.

Finalist selection will be hosted digitally in February, and the demo day and winner announcement will be in March at the Ion. The winner will have the potential opportunity to run a field trial with Transocean,Amajor energy corporation has put its feelers out for Houston innovators solving for challenges within the decarbonization of offshore drilling operations.

The application deadline is December 15 to apply. Learn more.

Podcast to stream: Jason Bock of ZettaWatts on the Energy Tech Startups podcast

For Jason Bock, a cleaner future is personal. That's why his company, ZettaWatts, is making clean energy more affordable and available.

In this Energy Tech Startups episode, we dive deep into the world of energy transition technologies with Beck from ZettaWatts. Jason shares his unique perspective on the evolving energy landscape, the importance of climate journeys, and the innovative solutions ZettaWatts is bringing to the table.

The conversation with Beck offers a glimpse into the exciting world of energy transition. As we move towards a more sustainable future, it's essential to stay informed and engaged with the latest developments in the sector.


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A View From HETI

A new report shows the role Texas could play as the data-center sector enters "hyperdrive." Photo via JLL.com.

Everything’s bigger in Texas, they say—and that phrase now applies to the state’s growing data-center presence.

A new report from commercial real estate services provider JLL says Texas could overtake Northern Virginia as the world’s largest data-center market by 2030. Northern Virginia is a longtime holder of that title.

What’s driving Texas’ increasingly larger role in the data-center market? The key factor is artificial intelligence.

Companies like Google and Microsoft need more energy-hungry data centers to power AI innovations. In a 2023 article, Forbes explained that AI models consume a lot of energy because of the massive amount of data used to train them, as well as the complexity of those models and the rising volume of tasks assigned to AI.

“The data-center sector has officially entered hyperdrive,” Andy Cvengros, executive managing director at JLL and co-leader of its U.S. data-center business, said in the report. “Record-low vacancy sustained over two consecutive years provides compelling evidence against bubble concerns, especially when nearly all our massive construction pipeline is already pre-committed by investment-grade tenants.”

Dallas-Fort Worth has long dominated the Texas data-center market. But in recent years, West Texas has emerged as a popular territory for building data-center campuses, thanks in large part to an abundance of land and energy. Nearly two-thirds of data-center construction underway now is happening in “frontier markets” like West Texas, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin, the JLL report says.

Northern Virginia, the current data-center champ in the U.S., boasted a data-center market with 6,315 megawatts of capacity at the end of 2025, the report says. That compares with 2,423 megawatts in Dallas-Fort Worth, 1,700 megawatts in the Austin-San Antonio corridor, 200 megawatts in West Texas, and 164 megawatts in Houston.

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