Trump II Wants Data to Reign

 Trump II recently wrote "Let data reign" on Truth Social.

"If you want to pay lower taxes, if you want to create tremendous wealth, if you want your house to be more valuable and everything else, you're going to want a data center," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "If you want to go through poverty, crime and squalor, I would say don't approve data centers." 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick chalked up opposition to "propaganda by our adversaries" and said the benefits to communities are "obvious." 

Trump's former AI czar, David Sacks, asserted that "misinformation" was to blame for the  backlash and said "no one is trying to force these data centers down anyone's throats."

Actually a collection of someones is trying to just that, Mr. Sacks.  It's a combination of elected and unelected government officials, TechGods and their financiers (private equity underwriters (PEU)),  Sacks knows them well. 

Surely data exists on home valuations in close proximity to data centers.  I can't imagine it supports Trump II's assertions (which often are not fact based).  That said, if homes across from data centers become unsellable then that data could be missing.  Abandoned homes often become magnets for poverty, crime and squalor.  

The benefits of data centers to billionaires Trump II, Howard Lutnick and David Sacks are obvious.  The investor class has multiple ways to profit from data center proliferation.  They can front run government policy and federal budget priorities.  Annual financial disclosures will indicate how these "public servants" are profiting from their private holdings.

Also, Mr. Lutnick's getting a multimillion dollar house from Jeffrey Epstein for $10 is not available to common folk.

Trump II and his kingly court want data to reign.

 

Data cannot be a sovereign power.  It should not be chief of state or have the authority of a monarch.

TechGods's social media usurped children's brains, their physical/emotional safety, social development and individual autonomy.  With AI they are shooting to distort whole societies.  

Data is incapable of reigning.  It's purveyors have shown their ability to feign to maximize their financial position and personal power.  "Everyone can have a penthouse" and "AI will cure cancer."  

Trump II, Lutnick and Sacks are selling something.  It's called their own book.  Normally, those come with disclosures but we are in a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) world.  Leon Black is telling us that very thing with his non-testimony.

The only data that rains is what they want us to see.

--cross posted at PEUReport as private equity plays a key role in data center rollout

Beacon to Bypass Gov. Abbott's Approval?

Beacon Data Centers is yet to commit to Governor Gregg Abbott's data center requirements.  They may not need to given their project is not requesting access to the Texas electrical grid according to the Concho Observer.

Skybox committed.  Emergent committed, as did Cipher Digital.  These three names are associated with two planned data centers in northeast San Angelo.  

Emergent and Cipher Digital are competing for grid power in this ERCOT application round.

Beacon is counting on ERCOT to approach them for connection.  Beacon's power plant of 280 generators (240 gas & 40 diesel) will need to avoid Spring Creek's floodplain.

Financing will be the big hurdle for all three projects.  Cipher Digital already inked several major customers.  Emergent and Beacon are currently marketing their wares to various TechGods.

All three could make and conversely, none could come to fruition.  That's not reassuring to residents of Dove Creek or northeast San Angelo neighborhoods.

State government does not have our backs.  That said, Rep. Drew Darby has asked Beacon Data Centers to be more forthcoming regarding its air emission plans.  Future issues to address include water (which shifted from surface only to drilling wells), noise, the project's heat signature and traffic.  

Beacon executives said "we wouldn't be a good neighbor if we did that."  The next time he showed up "that" was in their plans.  No wonder they don't want more public meetings given they plan to be a bad neighbor.

Update 8-25-26:  It remains to be seen if TCEQ holds a public meeting on Beacon's air emissions application.

Residents have until Friday, Aug. 14, to file a written protest with the TCEQ about Beacon Data Centers' air quality permit applications. The TCEQ will make a decision about whether to hold a public hearing on the company's air quality permit applications based on community input.

Update 8-26-26:  InsideClimateNews wrote about emissions from numerous Texas data centers, including Westline.

George P. Bush indicated two of the three possible data centers may come to fruition at a Chamber of Commerce sponsored event.

Update 9-4-26:  Trump II is likely in favor of Beacon's data center approach for Dove Creek, that is until he learns they are a Canadian company sponsored by a Canadian private equity underwriter (PEU).

Trump said that he’s letting companies build their own power plants so they don’t have to use the grid, which would mean lower energy costs for residents. He didn’t mention, however, that would also mean excess pollution and smog for communities that would have the additional power plants in their backyards.

Update 9-5-26:  Who knew data center wastewater might introduce potentially deadly pathogens.  

Meta Cheyenne Datacenter CHY1-2 discharge contained Cupriavidus gilardii.

It came from their closed loop cooling system, currently under construction. 

Camp Mystic Shuffled Funds to Insiders before Bankruptcy

A bankruptcy filing shed light on Camp Mystic's finances according to KERA News:

....filing also shows Camp Mystic reported about $774,000 in payments or transfers benefiting company insiders between June 2025 and April 2026. That category includes managers of the company, their relatives and affiliated businesses. 

The largest share — $480,000 — went to Natural Fountains Properties Inc., an affiliated company that owns property used by the camp. Camp Mystic paid the company $80,000 a month in rent from July through December 2025. 

Edward Eastland, a manager of Camp Mystic, received about $69,800 during the period covered by the filing. 

George Eastland received about $60,300, while Richard Eastland Jr. received about $59,200. Together with compensation paid to their spouses, the six members of the Eastland family received nearly $300,000 since June 30, 2025.

More than 130 people died across the region, including 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic, along with camp owner and executive director Dick Eastland.

Siphoning cash before a bankruptcy is a common move in the financial world.  Private equity underwriters (PEU) are infamous for bleeding affiliates prior to an insolvency.  

PEUs also utilize interrelated corporate entities to maximize profits and ring fence liability.

Twenty seven people died in the hands of Camp Mystic.  Officially 119 people died in Kerr County from the July 4th floods. 

Kerr County is yet to conduct an evaluation of its disaster response on July 4, 2025.  They've had ample time but lack the will to do an emergency management basic.  So far, the state of Texas has given Kerr County officials an undeserved pass.   This too has a PEU ring and echoes the Bush White House Lessons Learned report on Hurricane Katrina which never mentioned the hospitals with the highest death toll in Katrina's aftermath.  One was PEU owned, the other other landed a Bush on its corporate board.  

Texas has more in common with Louisiana than I thought.  Political connections, so canaille (mischievous; sneaky, wily). 

Beacon's San Angelo, Alabama

Beacon Data Centers has more than one San Angelo in its sites for a future data center.  In July Beacon shared its intent to build in Mobile County, Alabama.

Oddly, their map mislabeled their new Mobile County location.

Someday Beacon's Canadian and Irish executives will learn the difference between West Texas and the Redneck Riviera.  Until then, it's Beacon AI, garbage in, garbage out.  

Update 9-5-26:  Beacon's campus map shows the Alabama site as San Angelo, Texas.  I checked from multiple browsers just to make sure.  Maybe someday, their marketing folks or an AI product will find and correct the error.

Beacon's Pollution Application is Clear Warning

Beacon Data Centers listed a number of entities in its air emissions application with Texas Council for Environmental Quality, a state department that schedules polluters and water table depleters.  Entities include Beacon Data Centers, Beacon Services USA LLC and Westline TX Holdings LLC.  All use a Texas corporate registration agent in Austin.  

The application indicates the site will become a major electrical generation facility with hundreds of generators, both natural gas and diesel.  It also will be able to pump huge volumes of water.

It states "100 hours per fire water pump" times 60 pumps times 3,528 gallons per hour equals 21.2 million gallons.

A flow rate of 84 BPH (Barrels Per Hour) translates to roughly 58.8 gallons per minute (GPM) or 3,528 gallons per hour (GPH)

That is for one aspect of a giant operation.  Beacon already dropped its promise not to drill wells and avoid using groundwater.

The generators need to be in a climate controlled area as their maximum operating air temperature is 100 degrees.   So cooling is needed for both the data center side and the electrical generation side of the massive operation.

As for pollutants Westline is seeking TCEQ's stamp of approval for increased emission thresholds for seven pollutants:

Beacon started by calling the project Dove Creek Technology Campus but their public meeting at the Four56 Church did not as planned.  

After encountering significant local opposition Beacon instituted a name change.  It can be seen in their Delaware corporate registration (the week after the public meeting).

Concho Observer ran a piece suggesting pollution from the site would be minor relative to other uses.  That should not be a surprise as their owner represented Beacon at the Tom Green County Commissioners' Court in May and is a prominent attorney and leading member of the political Blue Team.

Beacon is backed by private equity firm Nadia Partners.  An interruption of capital flows could quickly derail this project.  Citizens will find out if Nadia has the goods to bring this abomination to life.  

Outside finances there is little to nothing standing in their way in permissive, already hot & drought prone Texas.  Beacon paid an extra $20,000 on top of the $75,000 fee to have their pollution request expedited.

Longtime San Angelo residents recall the West Texas Utilities Power Plant on Lake Nasworthy.  

The first pre-engineered combined-cycle power plant installed by the West Texas Utilities Company at its power station in San Angelo, Texas. The Westinghouse Electric gas turbine used for that application was a supercharged model W301, nominally rated at 25MW. The rating on the steam turbine was 85MW, for an overall combined-cycle plant power rating of 110MW, and Thermal efficiency achieved was more than 39 percent, the record for gas-fired power plants in the U.S. for quite some time.

Hot Water Slough got its name from discharged water from that plant.  How much hot air and water will Westline be discharging into our environment from its various heavy commercial operations?  

Add additional hot air every time Beacon executives visit...

Update 8-11-26:  A number of developers and tech giants agreed to Governor Greg Abbott's data center standards.  Skybox is one of those.  Beacon is yet to do so.

Rep. Drew Darby requested TCEQ hold public meetings on Beacon's proposed Westline data center and power generation project.  He also made a number of requests to Beacon on behalf of his constituents in the Dove Creek area.

Beacon's Westline Now 2.4 MW Project, Major Polluter

The neighborly Beacon Data Center team plans to foul West Texas air with their onsite power plant. 

The Texas Commission for Environmental Quality received an application from Beacon's Westline project for permission to launch contaminants into the air.  They've determined it is complete.

Beacon would begin construction January 1, 2027.  New Year's Day must not be a holiday in Canada.

The application indicates Beacon's Westline would be a significant generator of electricity as well as a major polluter.  Some details from the submission are reproduced below.

I have a different name for TCEQ.  It is the:

Texas Commission for Scheduling Pollution Emissions & Water Table Drawdowns (TC-SPEW-TD).  

I hope someday they prove me wrong.  

Capital markets may not be as permissive as Texas "regulators."

Update:  Beacon Services USA LLC paid TCEQ $95,000, which includes $20,000 to expedite the application..  

Update 7-12-26:  Concho Observer ran a story on Beacon's lack of communication with County officials as it applied to TCEQ for air emissions.  CO's owner represented Beacon at the company's last appearance before Tom Green County Commissioners Court.  CO ran a piece on the requested emissions which failed to illuminate the massive electrical generation operation that is planned.

Update 8-11-26:  A number of developers and tech giants agreed to Governor Greg Abbott's data center standards.  Skybox is one of those.  Beacon is yet to do so.

Rep. Drew Darby requested TCEQ hold public meetings on Beacon's proposed Westline data center and power generation project.  He also made a number of requests to Beacon on behalf of his constituents in the Dove Creek area.

DOE to Fund Colchis over Skybox/Emergent?

Fox West Texas reported the U.S. Department of Energy will loan AEP $3.26 billion for electrical infrastructure upgrades and expansion:

The agency said the financing will support about 100 transmission projects across Texas, including rebuilding or reconductoring existing transmission lines and constructing new transmission infrastructure spanning roughly 2,800 miles. 

Officials said the projects are intended to improve grid reliability, reduce power interruptions and help connect new sources of baseload generation to the system. 

The department said the transmission upgrades are also aimed at meeting growing electricity demand from data centers, advanced manufacturing and oil and natural gas development in the Permian Basin.

AEP has an agreement with Cipher Digital's Colchis Data Center project in just outside of city limits in Northeast San Angelo.  It is basically across the street from the proposed Skybox/Emergent Data Center.

ERCOT's Batch Zero competition will determine which data center projects get the necessary power.   

July 10, 2026 — Deadline for projects wanting to be part of Batch Zero to submit required technical studies and documentation.

Cipher Digital previously noted in a press release:

The Colchis site includes a fully executed 1-GW Direct Connect Agreement with American Electric Power (“AEP”), under which AEP will construct the necessary dual interconnection facility for a targeted energization in 2028. Construction of the interconnection facility will proceed in parallel with ERCOT's final review and approval.

If the DOE is funding AEP's Direct Connect interconnection facility with Colchis, is that not a thumb on the scale for that project over Skybox/Emergent, which leads us back to my original comment: 

I wonder if AEP's dual interconnection facility garners them an equity stake in Colchis. It seems strange that AEP would pick one data center over another at this stage. Shouldn't they work with whichever was approved by ERCOT via Batch Zero? It feels like a thumb on the scale. 

 However it is Texas where there are lots of thumbs and even more scales.

Spring 2027 is the timeframe for ERCOT to " provides each Batch Zero large user with the amount of electricity that can reliably be allocated for their project."  Losers can then enter Batch One.  

As for lowering energy prices, that remains to be seen.   Our prices continue to go up while Texas electrical providers pay us 50% of the rate they did just 15 months ago for our solar power.  

Individual generators get less and less for the power we produce, while delivery fees and base fees continue to eat us up.  Having solar with battery backup hasn't been a zero, but it's nowhere near the projections made when we installed the system.  And we have ERCOT to thank for that. 

Yes, the people who left us without power for five days in frigid conditions in February 2021 continue to deliver us a bad hand.  The DOE loan to AEP may soften that just a tad.  Time will tell.

Update 8-19-26:  Texas Governor Gregg Abbott revealed Cipher Digital committed to meeting his requirements for data center development.

Emergent Data Centers committed as well.  Both sites plan to use power from ERCOT and are proximate to each other in Northeast San Angelo.

Beacon Data Centers has not been mentioned by the Governor but their plans do not include a grid connection, at least initially.

Update 9-1-26:  ERCOT's Batch Zero process moved the date it will issue reports to December 10, 2026.  The City of San Angelo is no longer projecting capital investment from data centers for 2026.