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Today’s Big Stories

1. Austin Energy to prepare for heavily increased power usage for data centers

The City of Austin released an AI Impact Report that details the affect data centers will have on city power usage.

The report details what the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) estimates will be the increased wattage of electricity needed. Typically, AI data centers request 300 megawatts of electricity, but some might seek up to 11,000 megawatts.

2. Officials urge caution ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations

There’s really no better way to kick off the new year than fireworks, but every year emergency rooms all over the U.S. get flooded with injuries.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 14,700 people went to the ER in the U.S. because of firework-related injuries last year. Nearly 40% of those injured suffered from burns.

3. Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell pushes for Congress to create new entity to save college sports

In an interview with The Associated Press in advance of Texas Tech’s College Football Playoff game against Oregon, chairman of the Texas Tech board of regents and billionaire donor Cody Campbell argued that Congress needs to create a new entity that can oversee college sports. Its main focus? Maximizing revenue.

Notes for Tomorrow

Thursday, Jan. 1

New Year’s Day. The first day in the calendar year of 2026
United States to celebrate New Year’s Day with a commemoration of 250 years as a nation ahead of the Semiquincentennial in July
2026 Capitol One Orange Bowl: No. 5 Oregon and No. 4 Texas Tech meet for the second round of the College Football Playoff at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

In Case You Missed It  

 

Bargain shoppers and wholesalers browse selections of returned items at Big D Discount, a bin shop in North Dallas. (Spectrum News 1/Valencia Jones)

 

Texas bin store, bargain hunters cash in on holiday gift returns

Holiday gift return season is still in full effect, with retailers receiving excess returns and selling them to discount stores. Bargain hunters and wholesalers are collecting some of those returns at bin shops like Big D Discount in North Dallas.