AI, Data Centers and the New Anxiety Around the Grid with Houston Chronicle Energy Reporter Claire Hao

On this episode of Path to Zero, recorded at CERAWeek in Houston, host Tucker Perkins sits down with Claire Hao, energy and power grid reporter for the Houston Chronicle.

Hao has been covering some of the biggest energy stories unfolding in Texas today from AI-driven power demand and data center growth to grid reliability, water concerns, and rising electricity costs. During the conversation, she offers a journalist’s perspective on how quickly the energy conversation is evolving and why public anxiety is starting to rise alongside electricity demand.

As Hao puts it, “Last year there was a lot of excitement about AI data centers at the CERAWeek conference. This year, there’s this layer of anxiety over it.”

Texas Becomes Ground Zero for AI Infrastructure

One of the biggest themes at this year’s CERAWeek was the explosive growth of AI and the massive amount of electricity required to power it.

According to Hao, AI was impossible to avoid at the conference.

“AI is in every single panel,” she said. “It’s like an energy and tech conference basically at this point.”

Texas is increasingly becoming one of the primary destinations for this new generation of data centers. With abundant land, natural gas resources, favorable permitting conditions, and a comparatively streamlined grid interconnection process, the state is attracting companies looking for speed and scale.

Hao said the phrase she heard repeatedly throughout the week was “speed to power.”

“The primary thing is speed to power,” she explained. “And in whatever speed to power means, Texas is usually faster.”

That speed advantage has positioned Texas as a potential rival to Northern Virginia, long considered the nation’s dominant data center hub.

The Rise of “Bring Your Own Power”

Hao explained that many developers no longer expect to simply plug into the grid quickly. Instead, companies are increasingly pursuing “bridge power” strategies—building their own generation onsite while waiting years for a grid connection.

For many operators, that means natural gas.

Texas’ large natural gas supply, combined with easier permitting and a single statewide market operated by ERCOT, has made it easier to build private power generation near proposed data center developments.

While renewable energy continues to grow rapidly in Texas—especially solar paired with battery storage—Hao noted that much of the immediate conversation around AI power demand at CERAWeek centered on natural gas.

At the same time, she pointed out that renewable energy remains highly competitive and continues dominating new generation additions in ERCOT’s interconnection queue.

Public Pushback Begins to Grow

As data centers spread across Texas, Hao said community resistance is becoming more visible.

Some residents worry about grid reliability and electricity prices. Others are focused on water usage, especially in drought-prone regions of the state.

“I think that’s definitely one of the main sources of this grassroots backlash,” Hao said, referring to concerns over water demand.

She explained that while electricity infrastructure can feel abstract to many people, water feels immediate and personal.

“People see their local lake,” she said. “They have the water come out of their tap.”

That concern is beginning to attract the attention of state lawmakers as well. Hao noted that Texas legislators are now studying data center water use and broader infrastructure planning needs ahead of the next legislative session.

Has Texas Improved Since Winter Storm Uri?

The conversation also revisits one of the defining energy events in modern Texas history: Winter Storm Uri.

Hao explained that while Texas performed much better during this past winter’s storms, the state still has not experienced another event severe enough to fully recreate Uri’s conditions.

Still, she said there have been meaningful improvements.

Power plants are now subject to weatherization requirements, ERCOT maintains larger reserve margins, and critical natural gas infrastructure is better protected from outages that previously created cascading failures.

At the same time, Hao emphasized that winter reliability remains a unique challenge—especially because solar generation is less effective during prolonged cold-weather events.

Texas policymakers, she noted, still believe additional natural gas generation will be needed to meet future peak demand.

The Growing Complexity of the Grid

Toward the end of the episode, Hao reflected on one of the biggest challenges she faces as a reporter: helping everyday people understand an increasingly complicated energy system.

“I think a lot of people don’t really understand what the grid is,” she said.

That complexity is being amplified by social media, misinformation, rising electricity bills, and growing public concern over data centers and reliability.

Hao said one of her goals as a journalist is helping bridge the gap between the energy industry and the public.

“A lot of people in the industry use so much jargon that it can be hard for that to translate,” she said.

The result, she argued, is a growing need for credible, accessible reporting that helps people understand the forces shaping the modern energy landscape.

Texas may be moving faster than almost anywhere else in the country, but as Hao makes clear, speed alone won’t solve the growing tension between technological growth and public acceptance.