Overview
- Gov. Greg Abbott has directed state regulators to stop approvals for any new data‑center connections to the Texas grid and to carry out a comprehensive audit before projects can proceed.
- The executive directive names PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson and ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas as responsible for verifying pending projects and warns that failure to comply will lead to immediate denial of grid access.
- State figures show ERCOT is processing roughly 474 gigawatts of connection requests—more than five times Texas’s record peak demand—with about 90% of that capacity sought by data centers, raising reliability concerns.
- The order requires each pending project to disclose tax incentives, annual and peak power projections and plans for on‑site generation, projected peak water use and cooling technology, community mitigation measures, and full ownership details.
- Officials say the audit was prompted in part by operators’ noncompliance with a state survey on water and power use and by legislative hearings over local utility and neighborhood impacts, and regulators have not given a timeline for completing the review.