New Era signs 20-year power deal for up to 207 MW at Texas campus

New Era Energy & Digital said on 12 November 2026 that it has signed a power purchase agreement running 20 years for Phase 1 of Texas Critical Data Centers (TCDC), the data centre campus it is developing in Ector County, Texas. The agreement is with Luminant, ET Services Company, LLC, a Vistra Corp affiliate, for no less than 200 MW of firm power and as much as 207 MW.

New Era expects the power to be available in Q3 2027 and is targeting the first ready-for-service date in Q4 2027. It says Phase 1 draws on an existing, registered private-use network behind the meter, outside the Batch Zero process of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

For Phase 2, the company plans about 550 MW of new generation behind the meter with Thunderhead Energy Solutions, and says the air permit application has been filed. Phase 3 is still in design. New Era says these power arrangements are intended to keep other Texas ratepayers from bearing added transmission costs.

New Era owns 493 acres at the site, has a further 99 acres under contract and says site preparation has started. It is in advanced negotiations with a prospective tenant over the Phase 1 lease documents, under a letter of intent, which is non-binding, that takes in both Phase 1 and Phase 2. The company says the campus design gives priority to closed-loop cooling, and that it is studying whether water produced by oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin could be reused for cooling.