Texas Talks

Can Texas produce enough electricity to power the artificial intelligence revolution, or are the state's massive data center projections creating an infrastructure bubble?

Dr. Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, nonresident fellow at Columbia University, founding partner of IdeaSmiths LLC, and host of the Energy Capital podcast, joins Brad Swail on Texas Talks to examine the future of Texas' electricity grid, the explosive growth of AI data centers, and the challenges facing ERCOT.

Rhodes discusses the current state of the Texas power grid, including improvements made since Winter Storm Uri and remaining concerns about natural gas supply during extreme weather. He explains how new solar generation and battery storage helped Texas manage record electricity demand without the dramatic price spikes that have accompanied previous summer peaks.

The conversation then turns to projections suggesting Texas could need approximately 400 gigawatts of electricity capacity to accommodate future demand. Rhodes argues that reaching those levels within the proposed timeframe would require an unprecedented expansion of power generation, transmission infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and construction resources.

Brad and Joshua explore whether the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and data centers resembles an economic bubble, what happens if proposed projects never materialize, and whether excess power generation could ultimately benefit ordinary Texans through lower electricity prices.

They also discuss the potential of small modular nuclear reactors and geothermal energy, the rising cost of natural gas turbines and transformers, and the question of who should pay for the infrastructure required by large technology companies.

Beyond electricity demand, the discussion examines community concerns surrounding data center water consumption, cooling systems, noise pollution, local tax incentives, and the economic benefits these facilities can provide.

Finally, Rhodes explains ERCOT's Batch Zero process, recent efforts to bring greater accountability to large-load connection requests, and what he hopes the 90th Texas Legislature will prioritize when developing future energy policies.

From nuclear power and grid reliability to artificial intelligence, data centers, and electricity costs, this episode explores how Texas can balance economic growth, technological innovation, and affordable, reliable energy without placing unnecessary burdens on everyday Texans.

Watch Texas Talks with Brad Swail for an in-depth conversation about the future of energy in the Lone Star State.

00:00 — Can Texas Meet 400GW of Electricity Demand? 

00:19 — Introduction to Dr. Joshua Rhodes 

01:51 — Why Rhodes Studies the Texas Power Grid 

03:44 — ERCOT and Lessons from Winter Storm Uri 

06:16 — Texas' Record Electricity Demand 

08:53 — Data Centers and the 400GW Forecast 

11:54 — Why ERCOT's Demand Projections Are So High 

14:15 — How Much Electricity Demand Is Realistic? 

16:07 — Is the AI Data Center Boom a Bubble? 

19:10 — Small Modular Nuclear Reactors and Geothermal Energy 

21:14 — Could Overbuilding Power Plants Lower Electricity Prices? 

25:55 — Rising Infrastructure Costs and Electric Bills 

29:02 — Data Center Water Consumption and Noise 

32:54 — Data Center Tax Breaks and Local Economic Benefits 

36:00 — ERCOT's Batch Zero Process and SB 6 

37:42 — Governor Abbott's Data Center Audit 

40:40 — What Should the 90th Texas Legislature Do? 

43:51 — Energy Subsidies and Market Competition 

44:40 — Future Energy Policy and Closing Thoughts

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

Texas State Representative Carl Tepper joins Brad Swail on Texas Talks to discuss some of the major issues being examined by the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight.

Tepper discusses the committee’s examination of district attorneys and criminal prosecution, including the scrutiny surrounding the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and possible approaches lawmakers could consider during the 90th Texas Legislature.

The conversation then turns west to a highly unusual question: Could counties currently in New Mexico eventually become part of Texas? Tepper discusses interest from communities along the Texas-New Mexico border, the economic and cultural ties between those counties and West Texas, and what would have to happen for a boundary change to move forward.

Finally, Tepper and Brad discuss oversight of taxpayer-funded contracts, nonprofits and local government programs, including questions surrounding homelessness spending in Austin and how governments should respond when publicly funded programs fail to meet their goals.

00:00 — Introducing Rep. Carl Tepper
01:08 — Texas' Governmental Oversight Hearings
02:53 — Crime & Repeat Offenders
04:39 — Scrutiny of District Attorneys
05:12 — What Could the Legislature Do?
07:22 — Could Texas Expand Into New Mexico?
08:32 — Why New Mexico Counties Are Looking at Texas
11:05 — How a Texas-New Mexico Boundary Change Could Work
11:57 — Rural & Frontier Texas
14:38 — Safeguarding Taxpayer Funds
15:09 — Austin's Homelessness Spending
16:51 — Accountability for Government Contracts
19:10 — Closing

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

In Part 2 of our special Texas Talks series recorded live at the Texas Hospital Association Annual Conference in Fort Worth, host Brad Swail sits down with Chris Bryan, Vice President of Clarity Child Guidance Center in San Antonio, to examine the state of children’s mental healthcare in Texas.

Bryan shares the personal experience that led her from a career in technology to becoming an advocate for children’s mental health and explains how technology and social media have changed the environment in which children grow up.

The conversation explores gaps in the mental health system, including the lack of a consistent continuum of care, difficulties sharing health information, insurance and reimbursement challenges, workforce shortages and the difference between having mental health coverage and actually being able to access treatment.

Bryan also reflects on nearly two decades of advocacy at the Texas Capitol, how the conversation surrounding children’s mental health has changed and what she hopes lawmakers will address during the 90th Texas Legislature.

This is Part 2 of our two-part Texas Hospital Association special. Be sure to watch Part 1 with Allen Harrison on the economics and financial pressures facing Texas hospitals.

00:00 — Introducing Chris Bryan
01:56 — A Personal Journey Into Mental Health Advocacy
04:20 — Technology Meets Healthcare
06:05 — Behavioral Health vs. Mental Health
07:13 — How Technology Is Changing Childhood
10:21 — Gaps in the Mental Health System
11:47 — The Missing Continuum of Care
12:40 — Health Data & Funding Challenges
15:26 — Why Mental Health Coverage Falls Short
17:53 — Coverage Doesn't Mean Access
20:13 — 20 Years of Mental Health Advocacy
22:14 — How the Texas Conversation Has Changed
23:42 — Priorities for the 90th Legislature
24:22 — Closing

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

In Part 1 of a special two-part Texas Talks series recorded live at the Texas Hospital Association Annual Conference in Fort Worth, host Brad Swail sits down with Allen Harrison, President of Medical City Healthcare, HCA Healthcare’s North Texas Division, and Chair-Elect of the Texas Hospital Association Board of Trustees.

Harrison shares the personal story that led him to a career in healthcare before turning to the financial pressures facing Texas hospitals and the growing debate over healthcare affordability.

The conversation examines Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, uninsured patients, the role of commercial insurance, hospital pricing and the growing financial burden placed directly on patients. Harrison also discusses what Texas hospitals are watching ahead of the 90th Texas Legislature and why protecting existing Medicaid funding is a major priority.

Brad and Harrison also explore Texas’ healthcare workforce, including improvements in the nursing shortage, continued demand for specialized healthcare workers and how the patient experience can be complicated by an increasingly difficult-to-understand billing system.

This is Part 1 of our two-part Texas Hospital Association special. Part 2 continues tomorrow with another conversation from the THA Annual Conference.

00:00 — Introducing Allen Harrison
01:47 — A Personal Connection to Healthcare
04:11 — How Healthcare Has Changed
06:29 — Preparing to Lead the Texas Hospital Association
07:45 — Healthcare Affordability & the 90th Legislature
09:22 — Medicare, Medicaid & Hospital Finances
12:09 — Protecting Texas Medicaid Funding
13:25 — What Really Drives Healthcare Costs?
14:53 — How Hospital Pricing Actually Works
16:25 — Managing Financial Uncertainty
18:00 — Insurance & Rising Patient Costs
20:52 — Texas' Healthcare Workforce
23:00 — Shortages in Specialized Healthcare Jobs
24:22 — What Patients Want From Healthcare
26:22 — Closing

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

Women are paying $350 for a testosterone pellet. The same hormone, in a men’s tube, can last a year for $86.

Texas Rep. Katrina Pierson (HD 33) — former Trump national spokesperson and chair of the House Subcommittee on Maternal Health, Menopause and Access to Evidence-Based Medicine — sits down with Brad Swail on Texas Talks to walk through her Texas Women’s Health Initiative: baseline hormone testing, HRT coverage, physician liability, iron and prenatal access, and why she says doctors now practice insurance instead of medicine.

Pierson spent 14 years in healthcare, including OB-GYN. She filed a menopause-coverage bill in 2025 that never got a hearing. After the FDA lifted the HRT black-box warning, she took a larger package to the Speaker and got interim charges. In this conversation she explains:

• Why she wants insurance to cover physician-prescribed perimenopause and menopause treatment — including testosterone when medically necessary

Texas Talks — policy conversations with the people shaping Texas.

Subscribe for more interviews with Texas lawmakers, agency leaders, and policy experts.

Chapters

#TexasTalks #KatrinaPierson #WomensHealth #HRT #Menopause #TexasLegislature #txlege

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

Why is it so difficult to know what healthcare will cost before you receive it?

On this episode of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail sits down with Patrick Quigley, CEO and co-founder of Sidecar Health, following his testimony before the Texas House Select Committee on Health Care Affordability.

Quigley explains Sidecar Health’s approach to insurance and why he believes greater price and quality transparency, fewer restrictions on where patients receive care, and stronger financial incentives for consumers could help lower healthcare costs.

The conversation explores provider networks, prior authorization, prescription drug prices, clinical quality data and the high cost of delayed care. Quigley also explains how Sidecar’s model rewards members for choosing care that costs less than the plan’s benefit amount and discusses the company’s experience with primary care, mental health services and emergency room utilization.

Finally, Quigley discusses Texas’ healthcare affordability debate and what he would like lawmakers to consider as the state approaches the 90th Texas Legislature.

00:00 — Introducing Patrick Quigley
01:05 — Sidecar Health & the Healthcare Affordability Problem
04:34 — Testifying Before Texas Lawmakers
06:15 — What's Wrong With Provider Networks?
07:43 — Why Patients Don't Know What Healthcare Costs
10:14 — Measuring the Quality of Medical Care
15:58 — Networks, Insurance Companies & Patient Choice
17:20 — How Much Should Healthcare Cost?
20:10 — The Texas Healthcare Opportunity
22:12 — Prior Authorization & Trusting Doctors
23:37 — Access to Care & Emergency Room Costs
26:33 — Prescription Prices & Consumer Incentives
29:26 — Why Healthcare Prices Vary by Location
32:11 — What Should Texas Lawmakers Do?
35:00 — Closing Thoughts

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

What is driving rising litigation and insurance costs in Texas—and what does Texans for Lawsuit Reform want lawmakers to do about it?

On this episode of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail sits down with Ryan Patrick, the new CEO of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, to discuss his vision for the organization and its priorities heading into the 90th Texas Legislature.

Patrick draws on his career as a prosecutor, judge, U.S. Attorney and private-practice attorney to explain why he believes Texas needs to refocus on civil justice and tort reform. He discusses the impact of large verdicts and litigation on insurance premiums, businesses and consumers, as well as TLR’s concerns about medical damages, litigation surrounding commercial vehicles, and the incentives created by the current system.

The conversation also looks ahead to the next legislative session, where Patrick says TLR will pursue reforms addressing medical damages, staged accidents, insurance fraud, liability involving criminal activity, and other areas of Texas civil law.

Patrick also explains how he hopes to lead a new generation at TLR while building on the organization’s three decades of work in Texas.

00:00 — Introducing Ryan Patrick
00:50 — From Prosecutor to Judge to U.S. Attorney
03:18 — Why Patrick Joined Texans for Lawsuit Reform
04:59 — A New Generation at TLR
07:06 — Refocusing on Tort & Civil Justice Reform
09:28 — Texas Courts & the Case for Reform
13:48 — Venue Shopping & Consistency in the Courts
16:40 — Litigation, Insurance Premiums & Rising Costs
19:26 — How Lawsuits Can Impact Small Businesses
23:03 — Medical Damages & TLR’s Next Reform Push
28:32 — Do Large Verdicts Make Texans Safer?
30:34 — When Insurance Becomes Unaffordable
33:04 — How Texas Compares with Other States
40:41 — Staged Accidents & Insurance Fraud
41:36 — Priorities for the 90th Legislature
47:21 — TLR’s Strategy for the Next Session
48:10 — Final Thoughts

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

Texas lawmakers are taking a closer look at government transparency, taxpayer spending and accountability at the state and local levels.

On this episode of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail welcomes back State Rep. Cody Vasut, who represents House District 25 and chairs the House Select Committee on Government Oversight.

Vasut explains the committee’s mission and the wide range of issues lawmakers are examining during the interim—from Texas’ public information laws and the growing impact of AI on records requests to education foundations, taxpayer money flowing to nongovernmental organizations, and prosecutorial discretion.

The conversation covers:

Vasut also discusses how his previous experience in local government influences his approach to state oversight and what he hopes the committee can accomplish before the next legislative session.

00:00 — Introduction & Rep. Cody Vasut

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

How should Texas prepare its colleges, workforce, tax system, and infrastructure for the state's continued growth?

On Episode 126 of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail sits down with State Rep. Vince Perez, who represents House District 77 in El Paso, to discuss some of the major policy questions facing Texas ahead of the next legislative session. Perez describes his district at the center of the El Paso–Ciudad Juárez region and explains how its location along the U.S.-Mexico border shapes its economy and workforce. 

A major focus is higher education. Perez discusses recent interim hearings, Texas' performance-based community college funding system, funding shortfalls facing those institutions, workforce development, and how artificial intelligence could transform the jobs awaiting today's college students.

The conversation covers:

Perez also lays out his concerns about the enormous electricity and water requirements associated with new data centers, questioning whether the jobs and economic benefits they generate will justify the incentives and infrastructure demands placed on local communities.

00:00 — Introducing Rep. Vince Perez & House District 77

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com

Pilot. Flight paramedic. Firefighter. State Representative.

Rep. Armando Martinez (HD 39) joins Texas Talks to break down why Texas general aviation airports are more important than most people realize — and what the new House Select Committee on General Aviation is trying to fix.

In this episode we cover: 

• Why Speaker Burrows created a Select Committee on General Aviation 

• The real difference between general aviation and commercial airports • Infrastructure and funding challenges facing small and rural airports 

• How Mid-Valley Airport in Weslaco is expanding to become a regional disaster response hub 

• The economic power of corporate aircraft landing in small communities 

• The serious aviation workforce shortage (especially avionics) 

• South Texas launching its first-ever avionics training program 

• How HB 4520 lowered the local match requirement from 10% to 5% 

• What Martinez wants to see from the committee heading into the 90th Legislature

Timestamps: 

0:00 – Cold Open 

1:15 – Why a Select Committee on General Aviation now? 

4:40 – What actually is general aviation? 

8:30 – The funding problem for small airports 

12:05 – Mid-Valley Airport expansion & disaster response hub 

14:50 – Economic impact of corporate jets in small towns 

18:10 – Aviation workforce shortage & the new avionics program 

24:10 – Role of general aviation airports in disasters 

27:40 – HB 4520: Lowering the match requirement 

34:15 – Goals of the Select Committee 

36:50 – Priorities for the 90th Texas Legislature 

39:40 – Closing thoughts

If you care about Texas infrastructure, rural economic development, or disaster readiness, this conversation is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations with Texas lawmakers and policy leaders.

Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@TexasTalks

Follow us on social media

X: @Texas_Dispatch

Instagram: thetexasdispatch

LinkedIn: The Texas Dispatch

TikTok: texas_talks_podcast

Find more at The Texas Dispatch

Your source for state news, policy, and investigative journalism.

https://thetexasdispatch.com