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Nasdaq to open regional headquarters in Dallas to serve Texas

Nasdaq hits Texas.

Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

On the heels of the New York Stock Exchange, another stock market player is joining Texas’ Wall Street soon: The financial institution Nasdaq is coming to Dallas, where it will set up a regional headquarters office.

The company, currently based in New York, is the third to join Texas’ so-called economic hub Y’all Street, which features both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Texas Stock Exchange.

According to a release, Nasdaq made the announcement during a luncheon on March 18 honoring Ross Perot Jr. for his contributions to the Texas economy with Governor Greg Abbott, Ross Perot Jr. in attendance.

Nasdaq is a stock market and global technology company that serves investment managers, banks, and brokers. They chose Dallas because out of their 2,000 clients, 800 are located in Texas, plus they have 200 listed companies that operate within the state contributing to $1.98 trillion in market capital.

Texas is especially ideal, boasting the eighth largest economy in the world valued at $2.6 trillion, according to the Texas Office of the Governor.

“Nasdaq is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the Texas economy, and we look forward to maintaining our leadership as the partner of choice for the state’s most innovative companies,” says Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO of Nasdaq, in a statement. “Beyond our listings franchise, we are proud to support a wide network of clients who trust us to help solve their most complex challenges.”

This announcement comes one month after the NYSE made its move known and six months after the Texas Stock Exchange was announced. The Texas Stock Exchange will begin trading in Dallas in 2026, pending approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Under the leadership of Governor Abbott, the Texas Miracle has made Texas synonymous with innovation-led growth and smart regulation,” says Executive Vice Chairman of Nasdaq Ed Knight in a statement. “We share his commitment to these principles and will continue to advocate passionately on our clients’ behalf. As a result, we will take any action needed to ensure our clients enjoy the same benefits as all other companies in the state.”

The Nasdaq, like the rest of the stock market, will operate electronically.

openings

Under the Sun

Solar power poised to surpass coal for the first time in Texas

Photo by Bill Mead on Unsplash

Utility-scale solar generation has been increasing steadily in Texas.

Solar power promises to shine even brighter in Texas this year. A new forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that for the first time, annual power generation from utility-scale solar will surpass annual power generation from coal across the territory covered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Solar generation is expected to reach 78 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 in the ERCOT grid, compared with 60 billion kilowatt-hours for coal, the EIA forecast says. The ERCOT grid supplies power to about 90 percent of Texas.

“Utility-scale solar generation has been increasing steadily in ERCOT as solar capacity additions help meet rapid electricity demand growth,” the forecast says.

Although natural gas remains the dominant source of electricity generation in ERCOT, accounting for an average 44 percent of electricity generation from 2021 to 2025, solar’s share of the generation mix rose from 4 percent to 12 percent. During the same period, coal’s share dropped from 19 percent to 13 percent.

EIA predicts about 40 percent of U.S. solar capacity, or 14 billion kilowatt-hours, added in 2026 will come from Texas.

Although EIA expects annual solar generation to exceed annual coal generation in 2026, solar surpassed coal in ERCOT on a monthly basis for the first time in March 2025, when solar generation totaled 4.33 billion kilowatt-hours and coal’s totaled 4.16 billion kilowatt-hours. Solar generation continued to exceed that of coal until August of that year.

“In 2026, we estimate that solar exceeded coal for the first time in March, and we forecast generation from solar installations in ERCOT will continue to exceed that from coal until December, when coal generation exceeds solar,” says EIA. “We expect solar generation to exceed that of coal for every month in 2027 except January and December.”

For 2027, EIA forecasts annual solar generation of 99 billion kilowatt-hours in the ERCOT grid, compared with 66 billion kilowatt-hours of annual coal generation.

In April, ERCOT projected almost 368 billion kilowatt-hours of demand in ERCOT’s territory by 2032. ERCOT’s all-time peak demand hit 85.5 billion kilowatt-hours in August 2023.

“Texas is experiencing exceptional growth and development, which is reshaping how large load demand is identified, verified, and incorporated into long-term planning,” ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said. “As a result of a changing landscape, we believe this forecast to be higher than expected … load growth.”

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This article first appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.

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