New report predicts major data center boom in Texas by 2028

data analysis

A new report predicts that Texas will be home to 30 percent of the U.S. data center market by 2028. Photo via Chevron.com

Data centers are proving to be a massive economic force in Texas.

For instance, a new report from clean energy company Bloom Energy predicts Texas will see a 142 percent increase in its market share for data centers from 2025 to 2028. That would be the highest increase of any state.

Bloom Energy expects Texas to exceed 40 gigawatts of data-center capacity by 2028, representing a nearly 30 percent share of the U.S. market. A typical AI data center consumes 1 to 2 gigawatts of energy.

“Data center and AI factory developers can’t afford delays,” Natalie Sunderland, Bloom Energy’s chief marketing officer, said in the report. “Our analysis and survey results show that they’re moving into power‑advantaged regions where capacity can be secured faster — and increasingly designing campuses to operate independently of the grid.”

“The surge in AI demand creates a clear opportunity for states that can adapt to support large-scale AI deployments at speed,” Sunderland adds.

Further evidence of the data center explosion in Texas comes from ConstructConnect, a provider of data and software for contractors and manufacturers. ConstructConnect reported that in the 12-month span through November 2025, data-center construction starts in Texas accounted for $11 billion in spending. At $12.5 billion, only Louisiana surpassed the Texas total.

Capital expenses for U.S. data centers were expected to surpass $425 billion last year, according to ratings agency S&P Global.

ConstructConnect also reports that Texas is among five states collectively grabbing 80 percent of potential data center construction starts. Currently, Texas hosts around 400 data centers, with close to 60 of them in the Houston market.

A large pool of data-center construction spending in Texas is flowing from Google, which announced in November that it would earmark $40 billion for new AI data centers in the state.

“Texas leads in AI and tech innovation,” Gov. Greg Abbott proclaimed when the Google investment was unveiled.

Other studies and reports lay out just how much data centers are influencing economic growth in the Lone Star State:

A study by Texas Royalty Brokers indicates Texas leads the U.S. with 17 clusters of AI data centers. The study measured the density of AI data centers by counting the number of graphics processing units (GPUs) installed in those clusters. GPUs are specialized chips built to run AI models and perform complex calculations.
Citing data from construction consulting company FMI, The Wall Street Journal reported that spending on construction of data centers is expected to rise 23 percent in 2026 compared with last year. Much of that construction spending will happen in Texas. In the 12 months through November 2025, the average data center cost $597 million, according to ConstructConnect.
Data published in 2025 by commercial real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield shows three Texas markets — Austin, Dallas and San Antonio — boast the lowest construction costs for data centers among the 19 U.S. markets that were analyzed. The mid-range of costs in that trio of markets is roughly $10.65 million per megawatt. Houston isn’t included in the data.

Although Houston isn’t cited in the Cushman & Wakefield data, it nonetheless is playing a major role in the data-center boom. Houston-area energy giants Chevron and ExxonMobil are chasing opportunities to supply natural gas as a power source for data centers, for example.

“As Houston rapidly evolves into a hub for AI, cloud computing, and data infrastructure, the city is experiencing a surge in data-center investments driven by its unique position at the intersection of energy, technology, and innovation,” says the Greater Houston Partnership.

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Houston startup advances methane tech, sets sights on growth capital

making milestones

Houston-based climatech startup Aquanta Vision achieved key milestones in 2025 for its enhanced methane-detection app and has its focus set on future funding.

Among the achievements was the completion of the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Sensing and Computation for Environmental Decision-making (ASCEND) Engine. The program, based in Colorado and Wyoming, awarded a total of $3 million in grants to support the commercialization of projects that tackle critical resilience challenges, such as water security, wildfire prediction and response, and methane emissions.

Aquanta Vision’s funding went toward commercializing its NETxTEN app, which automates leak detection to improve accuracy, speed and safety. The company estimates that methane leaks cost the U.S. energy industry billions of dollars each year, with 60 percent of leaks going undetected. Additionally, methane leaks account for around 10 percent of natural gas's contribution to climate change, according to MIT’s climate portal.

Throughout the months-long ASCEND program, Aquanta Vision moved from the final stages of testing into full commercial deployment of NETxTEN. The app can instantly identify leaks via its physics-based algorithms and raw video output of optical gas imaging cameras. It does not require companies to purchase new hardware, requires no human intervention and is universally compatible with all optical gas imaging (OGI) cameras. During over 12,000 test runs, 100 percent of leaks were detected by NETxTEN’s system, according to the company.

The app is geared toward end-users in the oil and gas industry who use OGI cameras to perform regular leak detection inspections and emissions monitoring. Aquanta Vision is in the process of acquiring new clients for the app and plans to scale commercialization between now and 2028, Babur Ozden, the company’s founder and CEO, tells Energy Capital.

“In the next 16 months, (our goal is to) gain a number of key customers as major accounts and OEM partners as distribution channels, establish benefits and stickiness of our product and generate growing, recurring revenues for ourselves and our partners,” he says.

The company also received an investment for an undisclosed amount from Marathon Petroleum Corp. late last year. The funding complemented follow-on investments from Ecosphere Ventures and Odyssey Energy Advisors.

Ozden says the funds will go toward the extension of its runway through the end of 2026. It will also help Aquanta Vision grow its team.

Ozden and Marcus Martinez, a product systems engineer, founded Aquanta Vision in 2023 and have been running it as a two-person operation. The company brought on four interns last year, but is looking to add more staff.

Ozden says the company also plans to raise a seed round in 2027 “to catapult us to a rapid growth phase in 2028-29.”

HETI discusses Houston’s energy leadership, from pathways to progress

The View From HETI

In 2024, RMI in collaboration with Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) and the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) mapped out ambitious scenarios for the region’s decarbonization journey. The report showed that with the right investments and technologies, Houston could achieve meaningful emissions reductions while continuing to power the world. That analysis painted a picture of what could be possible by 2030 and 2050.

Today, the latest HETI progress report shows Houston is not just planning anymore — the region is delivering.

Real results, right now

The numbers tell a compelling story. Since 2017, HETI’s member companies have invested more than $95 billion in low-carbon infrastructure, technologies, and R&D. That’s not a commitment for the future—that’s capital deployed, projects built, and operations transformed.

The results showed industry-wide reductions of 20% in total Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions and a remarkable 55% decrease in methane emissions from global operations. These aren’t projections—they’re actual reductions happening across refineries, chemical plants, and production facilities throughout the Houston region.

How Houston is leading

What makes Houston’s approach work is its practical, technology-driven focus. Companies across the energy value chain are implementing solutions that work today:

Electrifying operations and integrating renewable power

Deploying advanced methane detection and elimination technologies

Upgrading equipment for greater efficiency

Capturing and storing carbon at commercial scale

Developing breakthrough technologies from geothermal to advanced nuclear

Take ExxonMobil’s Permian Basin electrification, Shell and Chevron’s lower-carbon Whale project, or BP’s massive Tangguh carbon capture project in Indonesia. These aren’t pilot programs—they’re multi-billion dollar investments demonstrating that decarbonization and energy production go hand in hand.

From scenarios to strategy

The RMI analysis identified three key pathways forward: enabling operational decarbonization, accelerating low-carbon technology scale-up, and creating carbon accounting mechanisms. Houston’s energy leaders have embraced all three.

The momentum is undeniable. Companies are setting ambitious 2030 and 2050 targets with clear roadmaps. New projects are reaching final investment decisions. Innovation ecosystems are flourishing. And critically, this progress is creating jobs and driving economic growth across the region.

Why this matters

Houston isn’t just managing the energy transition—it’s proving what’s possible when you combine world-class engineering expertise, integrated infrastructure, access to capital, and a commitment to both energy security and emissions reduction.

The dual challenge of delivering more energy with less emissions isn’t theoretical in Houston—it’s operational reality. Every ton of CO₂ reduced, every efficiency gain achieved, and every technology deployed demonstrates that we can meet growing global energy demand while making measurable progress on climate goals.

The path forward

The journey from last year’s scenarios to this year’s results shows something crucial: when industry, policymakers, and communities align around practical solutions, transformation accelerates.

Houston’s energy leadership isn’t about choosing between reliable energy and environmental progress, it’s about delivering both. And based on the progress we’re seeing, the momentum is only building.

———

Read the full analysis here. This article originally appeared on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog . HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. For more information about the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, EnergyCapitalHTX's presenting sponsor, visit htxenergytransition.org.

TotalEnergies to supply solar power to new Google data centers in Texas

power deal

French energy company TotalEnergies, whose U.S. headquarters are in Houston, has signed power purchase agreements to supply 1 gigawatt of solar power for Google data centers in Texas over a 15-year span.

The power will be generated by TotalEnergies’ two solar farms that are being developed in Texas. Construction on the company’s Wichita site (805 megawatt-peak, or MWp) and Mustang Creek site (195 MWp) is scheduled to start in the second quarter of this year.

Marc-Antoine Pignon, U.S. vice president for renewables at TotalEnergies, said in a press release that the 1-gigawatt deal “highlights TotalEnergies’ strategy to deliver tailored renewable energy solutions that support the decarbonization goals of digital players, particularly data centers.”

The deal comes after California-based Clearway, in which TotalEnergies holds a 50 percent stake, secured an agreement to supply 1.2 gigawatts of solar power to Google data centers in Texas and other states.

“Supporting a strong, stable, affordable grid is a top priority as we expand our infrastructure,” said Will Conkling, director of clean energy and power at Google. “Our agreement with TotalEnergies adds necessary new generation to the local system, boosting the amount of affordable and reliable power supply available to serve the entire region.”

TotalEnergies maintains a 10-gigawatt-capacity portfolio of onshore solar, wind and battery storage assets in the U.S., including 5 gigawatts in the territory served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Other clean energy customers of TotalEnergies include Airbus, Air Liquide, Amazon, LyondellBasell, Merck and Microsoft.

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