New Era Energy & Digital announces TCDC permits

New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. said construction permits are now in hand for Texas Critical Data Centers LLC, marking a key step for the company’s flagship Texas project as it pushes ahead with site work and power planning.

The Midland, Texas-based company announced the permit update alongside its filing of a Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. It said second-quarter reported results largely reflect its legacy helium and natural gas assets, which management continues to evaluate for potential monetization or exit.

"Having construction permits in hand is the milestone we’ve been working toward, and we believe it meaningfully reduces the development risk at the site", said Charlie Nelson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New Era.

Site and permitting progress

According to the company, TCDC has received Development Structure and Drive Approach Permits from Ector County. It also submitted the Phase 1 plat to Ector County and the City of Odessa.

New Era said it received approval of a Notice of Intent from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to begin grading and intends to start site grading in the coming weeks.

The company also said it closed its previously announced 54-acre corridor acquisition, bringing the campus to 493 acres, with all land for the planned development secured. It added that 22 abandoned pipelines across 12 rights-of-way have been removed from the site, while a final surface waiver remains pending from a single leasehold operator.

Expanded Phase 2 power plans

New Era said a subsidiary of Thunderhead Energy Solutions, its Phase 2 power partner, submitted a standard air permit application to TCEQ that would support about 550MW of Phase 2 capacity at TCDC.

The company said that figure is higher than the previously contemplated 450MW because of different generation equipment and more effective emissions controls, allowing more capacity within the same emissions ceiling. It said the application is under expedited review because it follows Texas state guidelines.

Nelson said the expanded permitting path could increase the scale of the project’s first two phases.

"The standard air permit filed by our Phase 2 power partner will support more capacity than we had previously contemplated, and would take TCDC Phases 1 and 2 to approximately 757MW combined on the same timeline."

Power agreement and funding position

The company said it is in advanced negotiations for a Phase 1 power purchase agreement in New Era’s name. It said its Phase 1 and 2 behind-the-meter power solutions align with Texas Governor Greg Abbott's data center directive and that the project is designed to move forward, unimpeded by ERCOT Batch 0 delays. New Era also said end-tenant negotiations and joint venture discussions with Stream Data Centers are ongoing.

Nelson said securing power directly would be a significant commercial step for the project.

"We are also in advanced negotiations for a power purchase agreement for Phase 1 in New Era’s name. Holding that power ourselves is what would turn TCDC from a site with a power plan into powered land. I look forward to taking shareholders through the detail on Monday."

As of June 30, 2026, the company reported $84.8 million of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. It also said $270 million remained undrawn under its up to $290 million Macquarie facility, and that expected Phase 1 equity is more than covered by existing cash and the Macquarie facility.

The company said it has expanded its executive team by adding José Rodriguez as COO, Evan Pierce as Chief Development Officer, Michael Johnson as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Darin Rovell as Chief Accounting Officer, along with additional senior executives with hyperscaler and large-scale infrastructure experience.

New Era said its flagship Texas Critical Data Centers project is a 493-acre site in the Permian Basin, with anticipated capacity scaling to 1.4 GW over time.

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