The JETI framework.

The Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation framework — JETI — is how Texas offers school-district property-tax value limitations to very large capital projects. It succeeded the state's earlier abatement regime, and for projects at data-center and power-plant scale it addresses the biggest single line in the Texas property-tax bill. It is a program you apply into, with eligibility tests and public process — not a discount you assume.

What a value limitation is

Texas has no state income tax; it taxes property, and school-district levies are typically the largest share. A value limitation caps the taxable value of a qualifying new project for school-district purposes for a defined period. The project still pays — but on a limited value rather than the full one, which changes the economics of putting extraordinary amounts of capital on a single site. For a company deciding where to put billions of dollars of long-lived equipment, the difference between full and limited taxable value over the limitation period is one of the largest controllable variables in the model. That is precisely the profile of an AI data center campus and the generation that powers it.

The successor framework

Texas ran an earlier value-limitation program for years — commonly known as Chapter 313 — which lapsed and was later replaced by JETI. The new framework kept the basic idea and rebuilt the machinery: its own eligibility categories, investment and jobs tests, application process, and oversight. Treat commentary written about the old program as history, not guidance. Projects and advisors who learned the old program's rhythms are still recalibrating to the new one, which makes current, program-specific advice more valuable, not less.

Why it matters for data centers and generation

Data centers concentrate more taxable capital per acre than almost anything else built in Texas, and behind-the-meter generation adds a power plant to the same footprint. Whether and how each qualifies under current JETI rules is a determination for advisors — eligibility categories and their boundaries are where the real analysis lives. What is unambiguous is the stakes: at gigawatt-scale capital intensity, school-district tax treatment moves project economics enough to influence which state, and which county, wins the project. Site selection and incentive strategy are the same conversation at this scale.

Mechanics, qualitatively — and advisors, always

The shape of the process: a project applies, demonstrates it clears investment and job thresholds, the application is reviewed with state and school-district involvement, and an agreement issues with obligations attached and compliance reporting behind it. The framework rewards projects that arrive prepared — with counsel engaged, commitments quantified, and the school district treated as the long-term partner it is about to become. Every detail inside that shape — categories, thresholds, timelines, clawbacks — is current-law specific and changes. Nothing here is tax or legal advice: engage Texas incentive counsel before assuming JETI treatment in a model. For how incentives fit the broader siting decision, see the cost math.

About Corley Energy

Corley Energy is a behind-the-meter independent power producer, founded in 2024 by Jake Corley, Tim Bozeman, and Mark Meyer. We convert stranded Permian Basin natural gas into firm, contracted electricity for AI data centers at Power Foundry, our ~1,000-acre development in Upton County, Texas. Start with what a power foundry is, see the company facts, or check current capacity on the Sites page.

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