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Texas wins again: long-term investors pour billions under Abbott's data center standards with skilled trades commitments. Meta to build a $10 billion-plus, one-gigawatt data center campus in El Paso by is licensed under Governor Abbott's data center guidelines require operators to detail their power plans, protect Texas water resources, and shield surrounding communities. Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas - Score another one for the Texas model of doing things. Just days after Meta and BlackRock finalized a landmark venture to build a $10 billion-plus, one-gigawatt data center campus in El Paso, Governor Abbott announced that Meta, along with several other major companies, will comply with his recently announced data center standards, proving once again that when leaders set clear rules and get government out of the way, private capital shows up ready to build, hire, and foot its own bills. Governor Abbott's data center guidelines require operators to detail their power plans, protect Texas water resources, and shield surrounding communities. The Governor said his framework establishes clear guardrails so data centers "conserve our water, respect our neighborhoods, and pay their own way," to ensure costs are never passed on to Texas families. Since the Governor issued his directives, data center developers across the state, including Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft, have announced plans to comply. Texas is concurrently attracting the AI buildout while writing the playbook for other states on how to do so responsibly. President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge The Texas approach mirrors leadership at the top. Meta was one of seven leading technology companies to initially sign President Donald J. Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge at the White House in March. Under the Pledge, companies commit to build, bring, or buy the new power generation their data centers require and to cover the full cost of grid infrastructure upgrades. President Trump has said the arrangement means prices for American communities "will not go up, but in many cases, will actually come down." Last month, the White House announced the Pledge had expanded to more than 200 additional utilities, developers, and states, covering 80 percent of all power delivered to American homes and businesses. A Blue-Collar Boom in the Borderland The El Paso campus is Meta's third data center in Texas but is already one of the state's largest construction projects, employing more than 2,300 workers onsite with over 4,000 skilled trade workers expected at peak. Once operational, the facility will support more than 300 permanent jobs. Eddie Trevizo, the business manager of IBEW Local 960, which represents El Paso Electric workers, wrote that "the impact on the union workforce has been tremendous," with some IBEW locals doubling in size and a construction phase long enough for its workers to finish entire apprenticeships. The skilled trades pipeline is also expanding. BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners and the AI Infrastructure Partnership signed a memorandum of understanding this week with North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) to connect a pipeline of more than 3 million skilled tradespeople, including electricians, pipefitters, and ironworkers, to AI infrastructure projects. This builds on BlackRock's Future Builders initiative, which is investing nearly $30 million to train more than 12,000 Texas electricians over three years. That's what the AI revolution looks like on the ground: welding rigs, hard hats, and family-sustaining paychecks for Texas workers. Paying Their Own Way on Power and Water Meta worked with El Paso Electric to plan its energy needs and pay the full cost of the power and infrastructure the campus requires, so El Paso consumers aren't left holding the bag. The company is supporting more than 5,000 megawatts of new clean and reliable energy projects in Texas. On water, Meta has pledged to restore 200 percent of the water its El Paso data center consumes back to local watersheds, and it pays the full cost of its water and wastewater service. The company is also funding El Paso Water's AguaCares program to help support families in need with their water bills. Clear standards. Private investment. Ratepayers protected. Workers hired. That's the Texas Model. With Governor Abbott's guardrails and President Trump's pledge in place, El Paso is a strong example for the rest of America of how Texas makes sure the AI era gets built right. * Share * Post * Pin * Share * Share * Print * Share Meta to build a $10 billion-plus, one-gigawatt data center campus in El Paso by is licensed under 08.19.2026

Equinor strengthens position in US power market. WEBWIRE - Monday, August 17, 2026 Equinor has agreed to acquire an interest in the Lackawanna Energy Center (Lackawanna), a 1,483 MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant (CCGT) in Pennsylvania. The transaction represents a step forward in building an integrated power business in selected markets. Lackawanna was developed by Invenergy, North America's largest privately held developer, owner and operator of power infrastructure. Under the definitive agreement, Equinor will acquire 87.71% of the Class A shares in Lackawanna for USD 940 million subject to a potential purchase price reduction at closing of the transaction. The remainder of the Class A shares and 100% of the Class B shares are owned by Invenergy AMPCI Thermal Power LLC. Invenergy will continue managing and operating Lackawanna, while Equinor and Invenergy will together explore additional collaboration opportunities that leverage Invenergy's long-standing operating capabilities and position in the existing PJM power market. "Electricity demand in PJM is growing rapidly, driven by electrification, data centres and industrial activity. This acquisition gives Equinor further access to the largest power market in the US and is located close to our significant Appalachian gas position. It also provides early cash flow and long-term value potential. We look forward to working with Invenergy as an experienced operator and exploring further collaboration," says Helge Haugane, executive vice president for Power. The investment structure provides upfront preferred cash flow and visibility on long-term cash generation, supported by investor protection mechanisms. Under the agreement, Equinor will acquire an interest in Lackawanna from funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock. Lackawanna is among the largest and most efficient gas-fired power plants in the PJM power market, the largest wholesale electricity market in the US. PJM serves nearly 70 million consumers across 13 states and is expected to see continued demand growth. The facility is well positioned through reliable access to abundant, competitively priced natural gas. It is also located near Equinor's significant gas position in the Appalachian Basin, one of the company's largest gas assets globally. The non-operated Appalachian Basin asset delivers more than 1.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day into the northeastern US. The transaction builds on Equinor's long-standing presence in the United States, the company's largest source of energy production outside Norway. It is in line with Equinor's approach to develop power positions in selected markets where the company can combine industrial capabilities, market access and existing energy positions. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Lackawanna Energy Center (Lackawanna) * Developer and operator: Invenergy Services LLC (Invenergy) * Located in Pennsylvania in the US PJM power market * The PJM power market serves around 70 million consumers across 13 US states * Lackawanna is a gas-fired combined cycle turbine with a capacity of 1,483 MW * The plant consists of three combined cycle units. Each unit includes a gas turbine, a steam turbine, a generator, and a heat recovery system * Lackawanna began commercial operations in January 2019, developing the state's second largest gas plant at the time * Annual generation close to 9 TWh net electricity generation * Average heat rate of 6,375 Btu/kWh * Following closing of the GIP transaction, Equinor will hold 87.71% of the Class A shares, alongside the existing Class B shareholders. The Class A shares provide preferential dividend rights. WebWireID358946 This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted. Distribute your news. * Every day, hundreds of individuals and companies choose WebWire to distribute their news. * WebWire places your news within numerous highly trafficked news search engines generating leads and publicity. * Submit Your Release Now!

FCC bans Chinese robots and inverters, strengthening US AI security measures. July 29, 2026 By QwenAI.fans 1 views The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announces a ban on the import of new Chinese humanoid and quadruped robots, as well as connected power inverters. The decision aims to insulate the U.S. AI supply chain from potential disruptions, data theft, and cyberattacks. Regulatory action to protect AI infrastructure. The FCC's new rules prohibit the import of specific types of Chinese-made robots and grid inverters. These devices, which are used in various applications including renewable energy integration and data center operations, have been identified as potential vectors for security breaches. \"This action is a critical step in safeguarding our nation's AI infrastructure,\" says an FCC spokesperson. \"By blocking these imports, we are reducing the risk of foreign interference and ensuring the integrity of our technology ecosystem.\"\ Cryptographic breakthroughs by Anthropic. In related news, Anthropic, a leading AI research company, reports that its unreleased Claude Mythos Preview model has discovered two new cryptographic attacks. The model, running for approximately 60 hours, exploited a nontrivial lattice automorphism in HAWK, a NIST post-quantum signature candidate, significantly reducing small-key security from 2^6. Meta and BlackRock collaborate on massive data center project. Meta and BlackRock, along with Global Infrastructure Partners and HPS, announce a joint venture to build a 1 GW AI data center campus in El Paso, Texas. The project, expected to be completed by 2028, will cost approximately $14 billion. BlackRock's group holds 80% ownership, with $4.9 billion in cash and $12.5 billion in debt. Meta will operate the facility. Security breach analysis by hugging Face. Hugging Face's security team publishes a detailed forensic timeline of the recent OpenAI agent breach. The analysis covers the period from July 9 to July 13, documenting roughly 17,600 attacker actions clustered into about 6,280 operations. The breach involved a two-stage attack chain, using an HDF5 external-file-read primitive and a Jinja2 SSTI via an f-string. MCP specification update. The Agentic AI Foundation, a Linux Foundation directed fund, releases a major update to the MCP specification. The 2026-07-28 MCP specification moves the protocol to a stateless request/response core, eliminating the initialize/initialized handshake and the Mcp-Session-Id header. This change allows any server instance to handle requests, enhancing flexibility and scalability. Industry impact and future outlook. The FCC's ban and other recent developments underscore the growing importance of cybersecurity in the AI industry. As AI technologies become more integrated into critical infrastructure, regulatory and technological measures will continue to evolve to address emerging threats. The collaboration between Meta and BlackRock on the El Paso data center also highlights the increasing investment in AI infrastructure, signaling a robust future for the sector. References. ", "image_prompt": "A futuristic image of a robot and a power inverter with a red 'banned' symbol, representing the FCC's ban on Chinese imports." }