Conroe City Council, meeting jointly as the Conroe Local Government Corporation, approved the proposed fiscal year 2025-26 operating and capital budget for the Hyatt Regency Conroe Hotel and Convention Center on Dec. 11, but not before members discussed what the numbers mean for a project that remains “underwater once debt is” factored in.

What you need to know: Hyatt’s requested FY 2025-26 budget is $14.54 million in revenue and $12.17 million in expenditures.

City staff said the budget was submitted by Hyatt and reviewed by Garfield Asset Management and RevPAR and includes reimbursable expenses, professional services and property insurance. 

Walter Peseski, senior vice president at Garfield Asset Management, told council the proposed FY 2025-26 plan assumes modest year-over-year gains, including an occupancy increase and higher average daily rates. He said those assumptions translate into an 8.6% year-over-year increase in budgeted total revenue and an 8.2% increase in operating expenses, with gross operating profit projected up 9.7%.

Council members said the hotel's projected finances still fall short of what’s needed to cover annual debt payments.

A new athletic training facility, Activ8, is now open in Conroe.

About the owner: Owner and personal trainer of 13-plus years Richard Drew, Jr. said Activ8 services athletes from 11 years old and up. According to its website, Activ8 is “dedicated to helping athletes of all levels reach their full potential through evidence-based training methodologies and cutting-edge technology.”

• 6507 Hwy. 105 W., Ste. D, Conroe

Montgomery County commissioners approved two extension requests Dec. 16 tied to disaster recovery grants used for buyout projects stemming from Hurricane Harvey and the 2016 storm and flooding events.

What happened: Commissioners considered and approved extensions to Hagerty task orders connected to the county’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grants—one related to Hurricane Harvey and one tied to the 2016 storm and flood event, according to the agenda.

The specifics: The Harvey grant extension request runs through Feb. 28, 2027, while the 2016 storm and flood grant extension request runs through April 30, 2026, according to the items.

More details: During the meeting, Jason Millsaps, executive director for the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told commissioners the extensions would allow the county, along with the General Land Office and the Texas Water Development Board, to keep working on the grants and “buyout property,” describing them as existing grants being extended to continue the work.

The Texas power grid is expected to hold up this winter, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said Dec. 9. This is due in part to “tremendous supply growth on the ERCOT grid,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said, amid an influx of data centers coming to the state.

The overview: Since last winter, over 11,000 megawatts of generating capacity have been added to the ERCOT grid, Vegas said. That growth, which largely comes from battery storage and solar facilities, could be used to power about 2.8 million homes during periods of peak electric demand.

Zooming in: Under most weather conditions, there is a less than 2% chance of a grid emergency through February, ERCOT found.

However, Texas could be in trouble in the unlikely event that a repeat of Winter Storm Uri hits large parts of the state this winter, although ERCOT noted that the probability of such a severe storm happening again was "well under one percent." The February 2021 freeze devastated an unprepared power grid, resulting in nearly 250 deaths.