The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to undertake a comprehensive audit of all data center projects currently advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process.
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According to the governor's office, the PUCT and ERCOT will have to complete the audit before any data center project is advanced. It said that if any project fails to comply with the set requirements, it will subsequently be denied access to the grid.
“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” said Abbott. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.”
Texas is fast becoming a new hotspot for data center development. At present, ERCOT is considering more than 474GW of connection requests, which is more than five times the state's record peak electricity demand. Of that capacity, approximately 90 percent is attributed to data center load.
