Are data centers buying Texas land?

Updated October 24, 2026

General information, not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Short answer: Data center developers want Texas sites with power, water, and fiber. Requests to connect very large loads to ERCOT grew fast in 2025 and 2026, but a request is not a built project. Texas has tightened oversight, and evidence on land prices is limited.

How fast are large loads growing in ERCOT?

As of November 18, 2025, ERCOT was tracking about 226 GW of large loads seeking interconnection, up from 63 GW in December 2024; about 73 percent were data centers (ERCOT).
On June 18, 2026, ERCOT said it was tracking more than 438,000 MW of large-load requests, nearly 89 percent from data centers (ERCOT).
ERCOT told its board that the vast majority of requests had no studies submitted (ERCOT).
In ERCOT's first batch study, 204 projects (66.4 GW) were conditionally included as base load and 158 projects (127.9 GW in the deck's key takeaways; its chart slide shows 125.4 GW) as studied load, with classifications sent to transmission providers on September 3, 2026; another 373 projects (302.2 GW) were excluded (ERCOT).

For scale, ERCOT's 2023 peak demand record was 85.5 GW (Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center).

What did SB 6 change?

Senate Bill 6 was enacted by the Legislature in 2025 (Public Utility Commission of Texas). It sets a large-load threshold of 75 megawatts unless the PUC finds a lower one necessary (SB 6). It also requires:

A flat study fee of at least $100,000 for initial transmission screening studies (SB 6).
Proof of site control through an ownership interest, lease, or another legal interest the PUC accepts (SB 6).
Disclosure of on-site backup generation; in an emergency, ERCOT may require a large load to run backup generation or curtail load (SB 6).

The state went further in 2026. On August 3, Gov. Greg Abbott announced what he called a moratorium on data center approvals until agencies audit proposed data centers seeking grid connection (Texas Tribune). On September 21, he ordered TCEQ to stop issuing new permits for data centers (Texas Tribune). These orders are recent, so check their current status.

What sites do data centers want?

The Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center cites Texas highways, fiber optic cables, and access to power grids, and describes data center developments as equipped with power, broadband, and water for cooling (Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center). DOE reported that data centers used about 4.4 percent of U.S. electricity in 2023 and could use 6.7 to 12 percent by 2028 (U.S. DOE). Water is under scrutiny: after as few as 28 percent of data centers answered a state water survey, the governor directed the Texas Water Development Board to penalize those that do not report (Texas Tribune).

Does this raise land prices?

The evidence is limited. The Real Estate Research Center reported that demand for data center land increased land sales, particularly near reliable power and fiber, but gave no figures on prices (Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center). We found no university study measuring data centers' effect on Texas land prices.

Questions to ask

How close is my land to high-voltage lines and substations? See interconnection and distance to power lines.
Is the buyer real?
Is this an option, a lease, or a sale, and for how long?
How much water would the site use, and from where? Ask your groundwater conservation district.
Would the deal trigger a rollback tax or a new transmission easement?

General information from the sources linked above, not legal, tax, or financial advice.

More official contacts and resources: Helpful links.