Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered Texas energy regulators to audit all data centers seeking to connect to the state's power grid before any new projects can move forward.
On Monday Gov. Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to conduct a comprehensive review of all data centers in ERCOT's interconnection queue. Projects that fail to meet state requirements will be denied access to the grid.
"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," Abbott said.
According to the governor's office, ERCOT is reviewing more than 474 gigawatts of proposed grid connections — more than five times Texas' record peak electricity demand. Approximately 90 percent of the new power requests are data centers. That unprecedented load growth could endanger the reliability and stability of the Texas electric grid.
