AUSTIN, Texas – Texas is looking to expand its energy portfolio by exploring new power projects on state-owned land, including geothermal energy, small modular nuclear reactors and natural gas plants.

The Texas General Land Office announced Tuesday that it is seeking input from companies, developers, technology providers, energy producers and other groups interested in developing those resources.

The agency is opening a Request for Information, or RFI, as it explores potential opportunities for what it describes as dependable and dispatchable power sources.

“Texas built its economy by putting our natural resources to work, and we cannot afford to stop innovation now,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a statement. “Our state needs dependable energy to power homes, businesses, manufacturing, and the next generation of American industries.”

What is the Texas GLO exploring?

The initiative will focus on three types of energy development:

• Geothermal energy, which uses heat from beneath the Earth’s surface to generate power.

• Small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, which are smaller-scale nuclear reactors designed to generate electricity.

• Natural gas plants, which can provide electricity when demand is high or other sources aren’t producing enough power.

The GLO said the three technologies represent different approaches to providing dependable electricity in Texas.

The effort comes as Texas continues to see strong population growth and increased demand for electricity from homes, businesses and industrial development.

Why state land is part of the conversation

The GLO manages more than 13 million acres of state land and mineral rights.

Revenue generated through the development of those resources helps fund the Permanent School Fund, which supports public education in Texas.

Buckingham has made expanding the state’s energy resources and developing state-owned resources a priority.

The agency recently has also focused on critical mineral development, including work connected to USA Rare Earth’s Round Top Mountain project in Hudspeth County. The project is expected to begin commercial production in 2028.

The new energy initiative is part of the GLO’s broader Texas Engine: Fueled, Fed and Fortified effort, which looks at how state lands can contribute to Texas’ economy, energy security and national security.

The GLO is now seeking industry feedback as it evaluates where and how these energy projects could potentially be developed on state land.

Fox News host Will Cain joins Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for a tour of a Texas aircraft conversion facility where commercial passenger jets are transformed into cargo planes on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

Fox News host Will Cain and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tour a Texas aircraft conversion facility where commercial passenger jets are transformed into cargo planes and get an inside look at the engineering behind the process on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

We’re two games into the 2026 season, and it’s clear that the balance of power in the Big 12 has shifted ever so slightly. Despite their busy offseason full of drama, the Texas Tech Red Raiders were the overwhelming favorite to repeat as conference champions and to make the College Football Playoff. But after giving up nearly 500 total yards to the Oregon State Beavers, a one-win team last season, the Red Raiders clearly have some work to do.

Meanwhile, the BYU Cougars, last season’s runner-up in the Big 12, have gotten off to a strong start out of the gates, beating the Utah Tech Trailblazers by 56 points in the season-opener before an impressive second-half powered them over the Arizona Wildcats, 28-17. Many of the stars coming into the year have been as advertised, with quarterback Bear Bachmeier taking a noticeable step forward in his second season as the starter.

The Red Raiders have not jelled together in a similar way, leading to ESPN college football analyst Bill Connelly believing that Texas Tech is not as advertised in 2026.

“Thanks to the brilliance of not only linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and edge rusher David Bailey but also a number of other transfers and key contributors, Texas Tech leaped from 95th to third in defensive SP+ last season,” Connelly wrote. “Despite star departures, Joey McGuire reeled in another strong batch of transfers and held on to excellent coordinator Shiel Wood. Though the Red Raiders went the entire 2025 season without allowing over 400 yards in a game, they allowed 472 to Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday night. They gave up gashes of 75, 41, 37, 25, 22 and 20 yards, and OSU’s Braden Atkinson threw for 413 yards, 240 of which went to freshman Jesse Legree.”

The Red Raiders did win the game by 11 points, thanks to 116 yards from running back J’Koby Williams and red zone excellence from transfer Thomas Castellanos, but they had to scrap and claw their way back from a third-quarter deficit to get it done.

“But while they began the season well ahead of the pack, they’ve slipped from eighth to 15th in SP+, and their advantage over the other top Big 12 teams has shrunk considerably, thanks to BYU’s solid early play (the Cougars are 18th in SP+) and early overachievement from Utah (22nd) and Kansas State (24th),” Connelly continued. “This could end up being a much tighter Big 12 race than what we saw last season, though it would certainly benefit the conference if the Red Raiders were able to shift back into gear defensively at some point.”

In the two matchups with BYU last season, the Cougars were held to just two touchdowns by the Red Raiders. With NFL draft picks at nearly every position group, Texas Tech was able to manhandle a Cougars offensive unit that revealed it wasn’t ready for the big stage.

But things have changed this fall. A full offseason with Bachmeier at the commands and a regressed Red Raiders defense has renewed hope that this could be the year for head coach Kalani Sitake and the Cougars.