Overview
- On July 24 the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas published rules that require data centers to fund transmission built to serve them, pass an interconnection screening, meet stronger pre‑connection standards, and rapidly cut power when ERCOT orders it.
- Both agencies urged lawmakers to expand the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act to cover large data centers, to clarify PUCT and ERCOT authority over reliability rules, and to require data centers to register so the state can track their water and electricity use.
- Diode Ventures announced it scrapped a proposed East Texas facility after saying it could not meet the new directives, a development the governor cited as early evidence the rules will reshape projects.
- Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller urged Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special legislative session to address data centers’ threat to farms, rural communities and water supplies, while Abbott said he will work with the 2027 Legislature to codify protections.
- The actions respond to a boom of projects in Texas — at least 248 planned statewide — and aim to stop transmission and reliability costs from shifting to residential customers while addressing local concerns about water use and siting in unincorporated areas.