Sailfish backs Abbott data center standards for Comanche Circle

Sailfish Investors says its Comanche Circle data center in Hood County is aligned with Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas standards for responsible development and will fully participate in the state audit process. The company says the project is designed to use private funding, onsite power and water-efficient cooling to limit strain on the grid and local resources.

Why it matters: - Sailfish is signaling that Comanche Circle is meant to fit Texas’ emerging rules for data center growth, not fight them. - The project’s design could affect how large-load developments are judged on grid impact, water use and local cost shifting. - Sailfish says the approach is intended to protect Texas families, small businesses and local ratepayers from bearing project costs.

What happened: - Sailfish Investors said on Monday that it fully supports Gov. Greg Abbott’s standards for responsible data center development. - The company said Comanche Circle, its data center project in Hood County, is committed to meeting those standards as the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT implement them. - Sailfish said it delivered a letter to Abbott committing Comanche Circle to the standards and to the verification and audit process the governor directed. - Ryan Hughes, Sailfish’s managing partner, said the company welcomes the verification process and does not want special treatment.

The details: - Comanche Circle is designed to meet customer-funded interconnection and financial-commitment obligations under Senate Bill 6 and Commission rules. - Sailfish says those costs will be borne by the project, not shifted to Texas families and small businesses. - The project is advancing privately funded onsite natural gas generation to reduce its net draw from the ERCOT grid. - Sailfish says the generation is intended to add dispatchable capacity to the region and could send excess power to the grid, subject to ERCOT interconnection approvals. - Comanche Circle uses closed-loop, water-efficient cooling. - Sailfish says projected consumptive water use will be far below that of traditional evaporatively cooled facilities. - The company says detailed water-use projections and sourcing plans will be shared with the Commission and ERCOT during the audit. - The site was chosen for its large acreage and sparse surrounding population. - Sailfish says only four residences are adjacent to any part of the project’s nine-mile perimeter. - The company says it has offered a binding setback buffer to one adjacent landowner and is open to similar agreements with others. - Sailfish says the project includes developer-funded transmission improvements and flexibility to reduce net load during grid emergencies. - The company says those features are meant to improve grid reliability in the region. - Sailfish committed in its letter to disclose any public financial assistance, generation plans, water sourcing and reuse practices, community impact mitigation measures, and project ownership and controlling interests. - Sailfish Investors was founded by Ryan Hughes in 2023 and develops data center and power infrastructure exclusively in Texas. - The firm says it is building large-scale sites in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio regions. - Sailfish says those sites are designed to support gigawatt-scale data center development with onsite natural gas generation and access to major transmission and gas infrastructure. - The company says Comanche Circle is aimed at the AI computing market and uses privately funded infrastructure, onsite power and closed-loop cooling. - More information is available on the company’s website.

Between the lines: - Sailfish is trying to frame Comanche Circle as a model project for Texas regulators at a time when power demand from data centers is drawing more scrutiny. - The company’s language suggests it sees the state audit as a sorting mechanism for projects that can be built and financed versus projects that exist mainly as grid requests. - By emphasizing onsite generation, water reuse and land buffers, Sailfish is addressing the main public concerns that usually surface around hyperscale data center development.

What's next: - The Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT will review Comanche Circle’s disclosures and verification materials. - Sailfish said the project will provide additional details on financing, generation, water use and community mitigation as the audit proceeds. - Any expansion or grid-export capability for onsite generation will depend on ERCOT approvals. - The company said it expects the project to be evaluated under a uniform process for data center developments in Texas.