In-Person & Online Conference - 6 & 7 October 2026, Dallas Tx
Managing The Water, Community & Power Trade-Offs To Optimize AI Infrastructure Growth
6 & 7 October 2026, Dallas
Managing The Water, Community & Power Trade-Offs To Optimize AI Infrastructure Growth
6 & 7 October 2026, Dallas
The team at Strategy Engineering Research Group would like to thank the speakers, supporters and attendees for making the recent AI Data Centers: Power and Cooling Conference such a valuable learning and networking opportunity.
One of the clearest messages that came through during the conference was that water and power cannot be considered separately when planning large-scale AI data centre infrastructure.
For the first time at an AI data center conference, we had water and power discussed together at a strategic level, particularly in terms of optimal site selection, planning and resource adequacy.
What became clear is that many organisations now seem to have a plan for selecting technologies and scaling infrastructure — but what can still trip up multi-billion-pound projects is often something else entirely: ensuring resource adequacy, navigating regulatory realities, and staying ahead of community relations and local concerns.
Several speakers brought real clarity to these issues.
Commissioner Catarina Gonzales from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave an extremely well-received presentation on the regulatory perspective. She also highlighted the very real opportunities associated with utilising produced water for cooling, which sparked a great deal of discussion.
We also heard from Commissioner David LaCarte of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who discussed the realities of interconnection reform and behind-the-meter generation, providing strategic-level clarity on what the future may look like — but also on what still needs to happen for that future to actually materialise.
Ning Ling, Chief Economist at the Bureau of Economic Geology in Texas, and Temple McKinnon, Director of the Texas Water Development Board, both helped bring real clarity to the topics of water availability, community relations and the broader issues that are at stake when planning large-scale infrastructure in water-constrained regions.
On the power side, we heard a succession of very powerful presentations on how to plan for data center load growth.
Gordon Drake, Director of Market Design and Analysis at ERCOT, and John Marra, Director of Reliability Assurance at NERC, shared valuable perspectives on interconnection challenges, but also spoke in depth about what really matters from the perspective of grid operators.
There was also a thorough evaluation of behind-the-meter power projects and the optimal configurations that can work well for specific sites.
For those involved in long-term strategic planning, this kind of discussion was extremely valuable.
Cooling Technologies — Opportunities and Realities
The whole morning of Day Two was dedicated to the different emerging cooling technologies.
We heard about the challenges associated with liquid cooling, air cooling and immersion cooling, as well as some of the cutting-edge developments that are genuinely starting to make a difference in the sector.
What was particularly valuable was that we did not simply talk about the technologies themselves, but about the pros and cons of the different cooling approaches and their commercial readiness.
There was also an important conversation about future-proofing.
Multi-billion-pound investments are now being made in specific cooling technologies, yet the pace of technological change is extremely fast. That creates a real challenge: how do organisations invest with confidence when the technology landscape is still evolving so quickly?
We heard about the latest modular solutions and rack architectures that can help both hyperscalers and AI-orientated data centres future-proof their cooling strategies.
At the same time, speakers were very clear that there is no single silver-bullet solution.
What works at one site may not work at another.
It really depends on the local environment, infrastructure, water availability, power availability and operational requirements.
Developments in air cooling, liquid cooling and immersion cooling are constantly shifting the landscape, which made these updates particularly valuable for attendees.
What Came Out of the Conference
All in all, the chair — Steve Thomas, Head of Infrastructure Resilience Initiatives at Strategy Engineering Research Group — summarised that the conference generated over 200 valuable takeaways, many of which will be included in the post-conference report and presentation/video package that is available to purchase on this website.
If you would like to receive a free copy of the short "headline report", which is shorter in scope but captures many of the key insights, please email us, and we will make sure that you receive a copy. Alternatively, a shorter summary is available on the website — accessible via the top navigation bar.
A Final Thought
The good news is that many of the solutions are already out there.
Yes, the technologies are evolving. The chip architectures and cooling approaches will change and improve.
But what is really important - now - are the site planning and community engagement factors — the regulatory alignment, the community engagement, and the practical realities of delivering these projects in the real world.
Once again, thank you to everyone who attended and helped make this such an enjoyable conference to run.
Download the full Chair’s Report and Media Package today.
The pack includes the complete report with organised strategic takeaways and speaker-led recommendations, full Q&A transcripts, all available presentations, and full audio-video recordings.
