Overview
- Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to verify and audit every data center project in the interconnection queue and to complete those audits before allowing any new grid connections.
- The order effectively pauses approvals while agencies collect disclosures on financing and tax incentives, projected annual and peak electricity demand, on-site generation plans, water use and cooling technology, ownership and community mitigation measures.
- State officials say ERCOT is reviewing roughly 474 gigawatts of interconnection requests with about 90% coming from data centers, a volume more than five times the grid’s record peak demand, and ERCOT has postponed its Batch Zero transmission study.
- Abbott cited low compliance with a recent PUCT survey on power and water use as a trigger for the audit and warned projects that fail to meet PUCT and ERCOT requirements must be denied grid access.
- The move responds to rising local protests and political pressure and could shift costs and rule changes into the 2027 legislative session while benefiting established operators and culling speculative projects.