Key facts
- Rosenthal, a state representative and former oilfield engineer, defeated Republican Bo French for a seat on the three-member commission.
- Republicans have held every Railroad Commission seat since 1994 and keep a 2-1 majority after the race.
- Rosenthal has proposed a first-of-its-kind fee on oil and gas wastewater injected underground.
- Texas holds more than 25% of US data center capacity planned by 2030, and 474 GW of projects sought ERCOT grid connection as of August.
- Georgia Power rates rose more than 18% over three years, with increases tied to the Vogtle nuclear expansion, per the report.
- Trump told Fox News on Tuesday night that "part of it was Iran" when explaining Republican losses.
Texas voters on November 3 elected Democrat Jon Rosenthal to the Railroad Commission, the regulator of the state's oil and gas industry, for the first time since 1990, according to Oilprice.com. Rosenthal, a state representative and former oilfield engineer who calls himself a "drill baby, drill Democrat," defeated Republican Bo French for a seat on the three-member commission, which oversees oil and gas production, pipeline safety and natural gas rates. Republicans, who have held every seat since 1994, keep a 2-1 majority.
Rosenthal ran on lower energy costs, plugging abandoned wells, closer oversight of natural gas infrastructure and managing data center power demand. He has proposed a first-of-its-kind fee on oil and gas wastewater injected underground.
Gina Hinojosa defeated Governor Greg Abbott on promises to impose a moratorium on new data centers, tighten rules on their water and power use and end their tax breaks. Texas holds more than 25% of the data center capacity planned in the United States by 2030, and as of August 474 GW of projects were seeking connection to the ERCOT grid, more than five times its all-time peak demand, the report said.
Democrats running against data centers also took the governorships of Georgia and Ohio. Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Georgia governorship after campaigning for a statewide data center moratorium, and Amy Acton beat Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio on a conditional moratorium that would make data centers cover their own utility costs. In Georgia, Democrats Peter Hubbard and Sheila Edwards won seats that give the party a 3-2 majority on the Public Service Commission, which sets Georgia Power's rates. Those rates rose more than 18% over three years, with the increases tied to the Vogtle nuclear expansion.
Regular gasoline averaged $4.15 a gallon on Election Day, according to AAA, against $3.80 in 2022, and diesel averaged $6.29. The report said the Iran war has pushed the average gasoline price in Trump's second term above the Biden-era average and that the diesel crunch is set to last well into 2027. Trump told Fox News on Tuesday night that "part of it was Iran" when explaining Republican losses.
Elon Musk, described by the report as the top donor of the midterms with a reported $446 million spent on Republicans, posted on X on Wednesday that data centers in space were "looking pretty appealing right now."