CenterPoint adds $1.2B chasing Texas mega-loads
Plus: a $100B Kentucky data campus, Permian deals stacking up, and rig counts climbing
🔥 The Big One
CenterPoint Tacks On $1.2B as Houston Large-Load Demand Explodes
CenterPoint Energy just raised its 10-year capital plan to $65.5 billion, and two-thirds of the new $1.2 billion is driven by large-load interconnection requests. The utility has 17 GW of large-load proposals sitting in front of ERCOT, with 14 GW likely to qualify for the new Batch Zero approval framework between 2027 and 2031. That's roughly $800 million in targeted system upgrades plus a downtown Houston substation relocation, real work for linemen, substation crews, and civil subs. If you work T&D or substation builds in the Houston market, this is your pipeline through the decade.
Read the full breakdown →✍️ Editor's Take
Rig counts are climbing for a second straight week, CenterPoint just tacked another $1.2 billion onto its capex plan chasing 14 GW of large loads, and Granite's data center backlog tripled in a year. Three separate signals, same direction: oil and gas and data center power buildouts are now competing for the same civil, electrical, and E&I crews. Add in Texas equipment rental penetration hitting a record 59.5% and the subs who lock in gear and crews now beat the ones who wait for Q4 pricing. Alberta is the one to watch closely, Athabasca's $55 million in prep work is sitting on hold until the province's fiscal framework clears, so don't bank on that FID just yet.
— FieldNews Staff
This Week in 60 Seconds
- Athabasca Spends $55M, Waits on Alberta Before Pulling Trigger
$55M in Corner SAGD site prep is moving, but sanction is stuck until Alberta's fiscal framework clears.
- Canadian Rig Demand Jumps 22% as Oil Prices Hold
Precision Drilling posted an 11% revenue jump as Canadian rig activity climbed 22% year over year.
- $2.2B Deal Builds a Permian Royalty and Surface Giant
Blackbeard's drilling took Waddell Ranch from 3,000 to 35,000 bpd, now it's merging into a $2.24B company.
- Heat Rules Pile Up State by State as OSHA Stalls
Seven states now enforce their own heat standards while the federal rule slips past 2027.
- Talos Buys Into Deepwater Mexico Block Holding 200 MMboe
Talos will pay up to $50M for a 50% stake in Repsol's Block 29, targeting FID in 2027.
📍 Where the Work Is
- Permian Basin, Texas 🔥 HOT — Enterprise is adding gas plants, Exxon says new pipelines are clearing takeaway bottlenecks, and a fresh $2.2B royalty and surface merger is centering activity on the Central Basin Platform.
- Houston / Texas Gulf Coast 🔥 HOT — CenterPoint's capex jump, Sentinel Midstream's new GulfLink terminal, and Cheniere's final Corpus Christi train are stacking years of civil, electrical, and marine work along the coast.
- Alberta / Western Canada — Athabasca's oil sands prep work and a 22% jump in Canadian rig activity signal a slow-building recovery, though fiscal uncertainty is holding back final sanctions.
- British Columbia — Allseas' subsea pipelay contract and Ksi Lisims LNG's new Uniper supply deal keep BC's LNG export buildout on track for the end of the decade.
🟢 Open Windows
Bids, packages, and decisions with a clock on them.
September 15, 2026
Wayne National Forest lease sale — BLM auctions 2,840 acres across 41 parcels in Ohio, opening the Marietta Unit to horizontal drilling and fracking.Fall 2026
Dulles Airport $20B expansion — A $4.5B-$5B design-build package goes out for RFP, with construction targeted to start spring 2027.
👷 Crew Market: BuildForce Canada projects a construction labor gap of 34,000 workers by 2035, with retirements outpacing new entrants across the country.
📈 The Number
$100B
A former uranium enrichment site in Paducah, Kentucky is becoming a $100 billion power-and-compute campus pairing 4.6 GW of dedicated generation with 1.2 GW of compute capacity. That's years of civil, electrical, and mechanical subcontracting work lined up before full build-out in 2032.
Rigzone
On Your Radar
- Sep 2026NVMA Safety Awards, Lake Tahoe — 27 mine operations and 5 contractors honored on 2025 MSHA data
- Dec 2026OSHA supplemental heat rule proposal due — Federal heat standard still stuck in rewrite
- Oct 2027OSHA target for final heat standard — ISHN calls the deadline 'widely considered impossible'
- Q1 2027Entergy targets Cottonwood gas plant deal close — Pending Louisiana PSC approval amid bill-impact concerns
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