Banks delay bond sale for Anthropic-linked Texas data center

Banks have delayed plans to sell investors part of a $15 billion loan financing a Texas data center tied to Anthropic after the state held new data-center projects while it assesses power-grid risks, Bloomberg reported. The postponement would leave the lending banks carrying the debt on their balance sheets longer than planned.

Lenders led by Morgan Stanley had lined up about $15 billion to finance construction of the Hubbard data center, according to the report. The project’s Anthropic link also appears in Texas Comptroller records, which name Anthropic PBC as the occupant of a Nexus Data Centers entry and list several Nexus Hubbard owner and operator entities.

Texas had already put a broader review in motion. On Aug. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to audit data centers moving through ERCOT’s interconnection process. His directive said the audit must be completed before a project advances. On Sept. 21, Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to halt data-center permits until ERCOT completes the audit.

ERCOT’s information request asks for details on public assistance, grid dependence and on-site generation, water and cooling, community effects, and ownership or control. Separately, ERCOT’s Batch Zero process groups qualifying large-load projects of at least 75 megawatts so the grid operator can assess their combined demand, available capacity and required transmission upgrades.

The delayed sale’s exact size, pricing, maturity, investor allocation and revised timetable have not been confirmed in an opened public record. The available evidence supports a project-specific delay tied to Texas policy, but not a broader deterioration in AI credit markets. The cited state records also do not identify which Nexus Hubbard permit or approval was halted or the project’s current audit status.

Under Abbott’s Sept. 21 directive, TCEQ will issue no permits sought by data-center projects until companies provide the information required for ERCOT’s audit.