Texas
Austin conference highlights Amtrak’s vision for Texas high-speed rail
AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) -Amtrak is continuing to lay the groundwork to bring high-speed rail to Texas, with plans to connect Dallas and Houston. Advocates say the proposal could transform the state’s transportation landscape and address growing congestion as Texas’ population continues to swell.
Speaking at the Move America Conference in Austin Wednesday, Andy Byford, Amtrak’s vice president of high-speed rail, highlighted the significance of the project, which aims to offer Texans an alternative to congested highways and overcrowded airports.
“These are really exciting times for Texas,” Byford said. “People really are wanting to see more rail in Texas. And the good news is that’s exactly what Amtrak wants as well. We’ve got our existing five daily services, but we’re looking to massively expand our presence here, working with TxDOT to address all three sides of the Texas Triangle.”
Byford says the proposed high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston is central to Amtrak’s vision for the state. The route, which would also pass through College Station, is seen as a critical step in alleviating pressure on Interstate 45.
“We believe Dallas to Houston represents a compelling corridor. It’s the most obvious one in the country in terms of the distance, in terms of the population, in terms of the projected ridership,” Byford said. “But we’re not yet able to say it’s a definite proposition. There’s still more work to be done to make the case and to go out and get that funding required.”
A Transformative Project
During his fireside chat with Trinity Metro President and CEO Richard Andreski Byford call the opportunity to expand passenger rail in Texas as a transformative moment. He says Amtrak is still in the planning and development stages for the Dallas-Houston rail line, with key milestones over the next year, including more design and environmental work. Byford also emphasized the importance of being thorough before seeking approval from Amtrak’s board.
“The next six months are going to be very busy,” Byford said. “We’ve got more design work to do, more environmental work to do, looking at probably 50 years of ridership projections, revenue projections, finalizing other elements of the design. Only then would we adopt a go-no-go decision.”
While the project is still in its early stages, Byford said he remains optimistic, pointing to the success of high-speed rail systems in other countries. He mentioned the economic, environmental, and societal benefits seen in nations like Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
“What you tend to get is real, what we call transit-oriented development,” Byford said. “Businesses pop up, housing gets constructed around the sites, commuting becomes a lot easier, and you do have the huge environmental benefits of getting cars off the road.”
If completed, the Dallas-Houston line would allow passengers to travel between the two cities in under 90 minutes, which Amtrak predicts would take 12,000 to 15,000 cars off the road each day.
“For me, it’s a win-win,” Byford said. “The science in terms of the economic uplift that happens is proven in many cases across the world.”
Support Across the State
In addition to the Dallas-Houston project, Amtrak is looking to improve rail services across the entire Texas Triangle, which includes San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston. Byford stressed that securing political support is key to turning these plans into reality.
“I don’t think you can ever build new infrastructure, and I don’t think you should ever build new infrastructure unless you have consulted with the community and unless you have the buy-in of elected officials,” Byford said. “Here in Austin, we’re lucky we’ve got Mayor Parker, who’s very pro-rail expansion. And that’s what you need. We’ll certainly need political support. We’ll need buy-in from the state. We’ll need federal support.”
Byford encouraged Texans to voice their support for more rail services by contacting their elected officials. He says that public demand is crucial to moving the project forward.
“If you want to see us provide more rail service in Texas, we’re ready to do that,” Byford said. “Please, if you do want to see that, talk to your elected officials. Say that you want to see more rail service in Texas—more frequent service, more punctual service, more affordable service. Talk to your elected officials, and as they then talk to Amtrak, I’m sure we can make this thing a reality.”
Opposition
While much of the conversations being held at the Move America Conference in Austin was focused on support for Amtrak’s proposed high-speed rail project, opposition remains a significant part of the broader conversation. Critics, particularly from rural communities along the route, have long expressed concerns about funding, land acquisition, and potential disruptions to local areas. Texans Against High-Speed Rail, a group of landowners and officials, has raised objections over the estimated multi-billion-dollar cost and the possibility of taxpayer funding. Waller County Judge Trey Duhon previously stated, “This was supposed to be a privately funded project. With Amtrak’s involvement, we’re now seeing the possibility of taxpayer dollars being used.” Additionally, new developments along the route could be affected, as many neighborhoods have emerged since initial environmental studies were conducted. While these concerns weren’t a focus at the conference, they continue to shape the ongoing debate around the project.
A Bright Future for Texas Rail
Andreski echoed Byford’s optimism during the 20-minute fireside chat. Having moved to Texas from Connecticut, Andreski shared his excitement about the public’s support for rail expansion in the Lone Star State.
“We’ve done a little bit of market research, and we have found in our part of the Texas Triangle here [Ft. Worth] that 78 percent of the electorate wants more investment in rail and they’re willing to pay for it,” Andreski said. “That’s exciting. And number two, we’re seeing strong response from the market to rail service. People are riding—we’re seeing 15 to 18 percent compounded annual growth. So there’s really an appetite for passenger rail.”
Andreski also noted the success of Trinity Metro’s TexRail, a rail line that connects Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Fort Worth. He explained that ridership has surged for both business and leisure trips, highlighting the changing nature of rail travel in Texas.
“We’re seeing people using the train for every trip—entertainment, connecting to leisure travel, business travel, not just traditional commutes,” Andreski said. “The opportunity for us is to continue to lean into that trend.”
Byford added that Texas must think big to meet the challenges of its rapidly growing population.
“If we don’t increase and expand rail service across the whole of Texas, my prediction is this great state will grind to a halt,” Byford said. “You may not, as the political leader, be at the ribbon cutting, but you’re the visionary that made it start.”
Both Byford and Andreski emphasized that partnerships at the local, state, and federal levels will be essential to the success of the rail expansion. They believe that, with the right support, Texas can create a transformative rail network that will benefit future generations.
“I am encouraged by big thinking and boldness,” Andreski said. “I would say my wrap-up is really—it’s about partnerships. And I think Amtrak being here in Texas is really, we have a bright future.”
Move America Conference
The Move America Conference is an event focused on the future of transportation and infrastructure, bringing together industry experts, policymakers, and decision-makers to discuss innovative solutions for the nation’s mobility challenges. Held annually, the conference aims to foster collaboration across sectors such as rail, automotive, aviation, and public transit, promoting sustainable and efficient transportation systems. It serves as a platform for showcasing new technologies, discussing policy developments, and exploring projects like high-speed rail, with the goal of improving transportation networks and addressing the evolving needs of cities and states across the country.
Copyright 2024 KBTX. All rights reserved.
Texas is planning its grid around an unprecedented wave of AI-driven power demand that the state’s energy regulator says may not fully materialize on projected timelines.
In a recent filing to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) projected statewide power demand could surge to nearly 368 GW by 2032 – more than four times the state’s current peak demand record of 85.5 GW. But the filing also contains an unusual warning from the grid operator itself.
“ERCOT has concerns with using the preliminary load forecast values for the Reliability Assessment and any other transmission and resource adequacy analysis,” the organization wrote in its April 2026 long-term load forecast filing.
The organization added that it may seek adjustments to the forecast based on “actual historical realization rates or other objective, credible, independent information.”
ERCOT has already begun adjusting for realization risk internally. In its 2025 long-term load forecast report, the grid operator said the “average peak consumption per site was 49.8% of the requested MW” and applied that factor to projected non-crypto data center load additions in some planning models.
ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said the forecast reflects “higher-than-expected future load growth” tied to changing large-load planning dynamics.
Texas has emerged as a hotspot for data center growth, with numerous new projects reshaping the energy market and challenging grid capacity. (Image: Alamy)
Texas Developers Race Ahead of Grid Capacity
Texas has emerged as a key data center market, driven by its abundant land, competitive energy prices, and favorable regulatory environment. This combination has positioned the state as a magnet for hyperscale operators and AI infrastructure investments. The state is estimated to account for around 15% of all data center connectivity in the US.
Recent and proposed AI data center campuses tied to OpenAI, Oracle, Meta, Crusoe, CoreWeave, Soluna, and other hyperscale operators are reshaping Texas grid planning. Developers have proposed large campuses across North Texas, Abilene, West Texas, and the Houston corridor, many requiring hundreds of megawatts of capacity and, in some cases, dedicated onsite generation to bypass interconnection delays. That buildout pushed ERCOT’s non-crypto data center forecast above 228 GW by 2032.
Developers are continuing to pursue Texas aggressively because ERCOT still offers faster timelines and more flexible market structures than many competing regions. Several proposed campuses pair AI infrastructure with onsite gas generation, colocated power assets, or flexible-load arrangements to navigate mounting transmission constraints.
Utilities across the US are grappling with AI-driven electricity growth, but ERCOT’s projections stand apart for both scale and uncertainty. PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, expects summer peak demand to climb above 241 GW over the next 15 years as data centers and electrification expand. ERCOT, by contrast, projects demand potentially reaching nearly 368 GW by 2032, driven largely by proposed non-crypto data center loads. At the same time, the grid operator openly questions how much of that demand will materialize on schedule.
Bigger Than Texas
Similar pressures are emerging elsewhere. In California, CAISO’s latest transmission plan cited “data center load growth” as a driver of major grid upgrades and described interconnection volumes as “unmanageable” before recent queue reforms.
A recent Grid Strategies report reached a similar conclusion nationally, warning that the “data center portion of utility load forecasts is likely overstated by roughly 25 GW” compared with market-based deployment estimates.
Ihab Osman, an independent strategist specializing in data center and other mission-critical infrastructure, said the distinction is less about “real” versus “fake” AI demand and more about “announced versus deliverable demand.”
“A large share of the current AI/data center planned load should be treated as paper megawatts until it is validated through physical gates,” Osman said, citing factors including site control, transmission deliverability, generation availability, turbine and transformer supply, permitting, financing, and credible energization schedules.
Osman said ERCOT’s forecast is best understood as “a stress-test map, not as a fait accompli build map.”
Separating ’Paper Megawatts’ From Real Demand
The filing shows Texas regulators and grid planners struggling to distinguish operating AI infrastructure from a rapidly expanding pipeline of proposed projects.
“The vast majority” of ERCOT’s projected load growth comes from submissions provided by transmission and distribution utilities, according to the filing. Those requests include hyperscale AI campuses, GPU clusters, and other large industrial loads seeking future grid capacity reservations.
Alison Silverstein, a former senior adviser to the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said “a large proportion” of projects in ERCOT’s large-load interconnection queue have already been canceled, particularly among smaller developers facing long interconnection delays and high turbine and transformer costs.
Forecasts Collide With Physical Infrastructure Limits
ERCOT has also signaled that many projects may not materialize on the timelines shaping transmission planning.
The grid operator said summer 2026 peak demand is likely to land between roughly 90.5 GW and 98 GW – far below the preliminary 112 GW figure embedded in the long-term forecast. ERCOT said it appears “unlikely” that new large-load projects and existing site expansions will ramp quickly enough to push demand that high this year.
The filing suggests uncertainty around AI-related load growth is beginning to influence broader infrastructure planning assumptions. By 2032, ERCOT projects non-crypto data centers reaching 228 GW of demand, compared with just 9 GW from cryptocurrency mining and roughly 3 GW each from hydrogen/e-fuels and oil-and-gas-related industrial growth.
The move also suggests the regulator is no longer simply forecasting AI-driven growth, but also working to determine how much of the proposed boom can actually be financed, supplied, interconnected, and energized before utilities commit billions to long-lived infrastructure.
AUSTIN, Texas — Bravo is developing a new reality series set in the Texas Hill Country, the network announced on Instagram Monday.
“Secrets, Lies, Texas Wives” would follow a group of women in Boerne.
According to the network’s description, the series centers on “a tight-knit circle of glamorous women” navigating family life, ranching, and social obligations in a community rooted in rodeo and tradition. They promise drama with “forbidden romances” and relationship angst.
No premiere date or cast have been announced.
If picked up, the series would join Bravo’s long-running portfolio of region-specific reality franchises, which includes the “Real Housewives” lineup.
AUSTIN, Texas — With the average price of a gallon of gas in Texas topping $4, some leaders from Austin to Washington, D.C., are backing a temporary pause on gas taxes as a way to deliver relief.
Veronica Valdez Rodriguez was pumping gas at a southeast Austin station on Tuesday. She said the rising costs are becoming unmanageable.
“They’re sky high,” Rodriguez said. “I can barely get by, you know? It’s too expensive.”
She said she is spending $40 more every week on gas.
According to AAA Texas, the average cost of a regular gallon of fuel stood at over $4.01 in the Austin area on Tuesday, $1.24 higher than the average one year ago.
President Donald Trump said he is working to pause the federal gas tax, which is 18 cents per gallon.
A reporter asked the president on Monday how long the tax would be suspended.
“Until it’s appropriate. It’s a small percentage, but it’s, you know, it’s still money,” Trump said.
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In Texas, an 18-cent-per-gallon pause could add up to savings of about $2 to $3 on an average tank of gas.
Support for a federal pause is coming from both parties. State Rep. and U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico (D-Austin) backed the idea last month.
“Lowering prices at the pump should be a bipartisan commitment,” Talarico said in a statement Monday.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said he didn’t know the details of the president’s plan.
“There’s a difference between a temporary suspension and a permanent suspension,” Cornyn said Monday. “I don’t know exactly what the President has in mind. I think a temporary suspension getting through this sort of bumpy time because of uncertainty about energy prices, I can live with that.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa is calling for a state gas tax pause as well. The state tax currently sits at 20 cents per gallon, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
The state pause is also being urged by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who has called on Governor Greg Abbott to act.
“Governors in Indiana, Georgia, and Utah have already stepped up to provide relief for their citizens, and I once again renew my call for Governor Abbott to follow the lead of President Trump and act decisively for Texas families,” Miller wrote on Monday.
The governor’s office, however, said a state gas tax pause is not an option under his executive authority.
In a statement, the governor’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, wrote in response to Miller:
There’s a reason Sid Miller lost his election, it’s because he doesn’t shoot straight with Texans. Any suggestion that the Texas governor is authorized by law to suspend a gas tax is entirely uninformed or purposefully misleading. If the Texas governor could suspend taxes, he would have suspended the property tax years ago.
At the federal level, the Bipartisan Policy Center said a gas tax holiday would require an act of Congress. The group also estimated that a five-month pause could cost as much as $17 billion.
Some drivers, like Rodriguez, said any break would help.
“Pause the taxes!” she said.
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