A fast-growing industry in 2026 will be finding creative ways to power artificial intelligence and data centers that are flocking to our state and some fear will put the ERCOT power grid in jeopardy, but Texas being Texas, there's a natural alternative to nuclear and batteries.
"And I'm glad because we already produce a tremendous amount of natural gas here in the United States -- we have a need for it and we have a supply," Jay Young says.
He's the CEO of King Operating, based in the vibrant Dallas suburb of Addison, and he says we're in a kind of "sweet spot" in natural gas pricing that will help power the AI and data markets expected to grow so fast in the coming year.
Electric power specialists are recommending nuclear, solar and wind power among other sources for the hundreds of Texas AI centers that are either under construction, under design or under consideration in Texas, but natural gas is perhaps the most practical of electricity sources.
"As long as we don't go crazy on the pricing," Mr. Young says, "and we stay between three and four dollars [per million British thermal units] and we keep it steady, then we won't need anything else besides natural gas, really."
Nuclear is going to be expensive in the early stages, which is one reason Governor Greg Abbott is offering the industry help in getting a foothold in the state, and wind and solar are intermittent power, with considerable down time, but natural gas is consistent and abundant.
And using gas is doing us all a favor, considering how much has been flared off over the years because uses couldn't be found for it at reasonable prices -- and the practice of flaring ran afoul of some laws and most environmentalists.
With the rising value of natural gas as it goes into growth industries like Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) for shipping to Europe and all over the world, the Texas oil & gas industry is increasingly efficient and still profitable.
"It's like 'Landman,' when Billy Bob Thornton said 'Hey, $78 a barrel's perfect,'" Young says, natural gas is doing just fine right now.