With all the people not wanting the data centers built what are the chances of Comstock and others pulling out with no market for their natural gas? Pretty crazy to spend 30-40 million on a well with no returns if most of the gas was going to run these data centers.
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Interesting topic as the L A Times has an article on this: Pg A11. Planned expansion of an additional 100 gigawatts of data centers capacity by 2030, Data centers expected to consume 8% of all electricity by 2030. The market and the product is here. 
Clint
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Lng export is the primary economic driver as I understand
I was listening to Comstock third quarter meeting online and they talk about these data centers in the Western Haynesville field using most of the gas for electricity and cooling for the data centers.
AI is changing everything. For the better
Wind and solar generated energy has been attributed for data centers as well. We will have to see where it lands in the end. There will have to be a number of new generating plants built to accommodate this new demand for power.
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i dont know nuthin’ about nuthin’, but i am hoping that regardless of data centers in Leon county, the futures on LNG will stay healthy and make it worthwhile for Comstock and others to keep rolling
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They are building new gas powered electric plants around lake limestone now. These folks raising hell about the Data Centers want the money from the gas wells but not the usage of the natural gas in our county are crazy. They all want better health care services, public transportation, better schools, better roads, high paying jobs, and many of other things. But they don’t want industry in here so they can tax to get better services.
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Flower mound tx banned drilling. Bartonville tx said drill here. Bartonville got all new city equipment and teachers got raises
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Texas has mass drilling but still superior water systems
From everything I heard they want use water to keep the data centers cool. They are building two electric power plants just for the data centers. One to run all the computers and one to run the AC systems. All these fruitscakes worried about water hasn’t even gone to commissioner court to hear how even going to be ran by the company. I just hope they don’t have 10,000 lights around the build. Be better if they had infrared cameras around the place for security.
They recycle the water to a cooling pond it’s not like they just dump the cooling water. 22000 gallons a minute yes. 22000 gpm recirculating
Lighting can be all red so it doesn’t glare and they can see better.
From what I heard from someone that was at commissioner court with the company building these they said it will be two power plants built. One to run the cooling (ac) system and the other for the data center. These plants are supposedly being built now around the NRG plant. They will run on natural gas.
They said they will not need any water for cooling.
I’d say about 0% chance of any meaningful restrictions on data centers. And even if there are, they’d be sensible things like requiring water re-use & green energy. Zero impact on natural gas prices. IMHO, the main risks to natural gas prices are 1) embargoes against the US, 2) foreign competition, & 3) transition to hydrogen. I’m not too worried about the last one, because I think 1) gas wells will likely remain cost effective sources of hydrogen, 2) utilities are just starting to experiment on how they can gradually increase the ratio of hydrogen to natural gas in their fuel mix. It’s going to take a VERY long time to make a complete switch.
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I don’t see how they can run on just one gas well they need two or three wells plus a backup gas source. All oil and gas wells need intervention and clean out
Denton banned drilling. State sued Denton. State won!
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There is a valid debate here. I spend time in College Station, where the community (including the “Aggie Intellectuals”) recently pushed back hard against a massive data center project. While the folks that run this town are WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING, they had valid points: when you drop a 100MW fortress on a community, the water and grid strain is real.
The “Edge” Alternative But we need to distinguish between “Hyperscale” facilities and “AI at the Edge.” The future for rural Texas isn’t necessarily importing massive data centers; it’s exporting “Information” instead of raw gas.
The Solution: Molecules to Electrons (On-Site) You don’t need a 100-acre facility draining the aquifer. You can fit a world-class AI compute node in a 40ft shipping container, dropped right at the wellhead.
- The Power: GE Vernova Aeroderivative Turbines (like the mobile TM2500) running on raw wellhead gas.
- The Grid: Zero impact. It’s a self-contained microgrid.
- The Water: Zero impact. These units are typically air-cooled.
Stranded Gas is Dead This solves the “Negative Basis” problem. Instead of flaring or selling gas cheap, you turn Molecules (Gas) → Electrons (Power) → AI Output (Information) right at the edge.
The “Rural Character” Argument And honestly? I’d take a quiet data center box over a Walmart or a Strip Mall any day. One brings traffic, noise, and light pollution. The other quietly turns gas into value without changing the landscape. If we want to preserve the rural character of Leon County while keeping the tax base healthy, “AI at the Edge” is the way to do it.
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That is correct about Denton.
The company told commissioner court they will be building their own infrastructure for the AI centers. They are building two gas powered power plants, one for all the electricity and the other to run all the cooling systems. So there want be any strain on own local power grid or water resources.
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