Texas pauses new data center grid connections
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a temporary halt to new data center connections to the state electric grid and directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to perform comprehensive audits of all data center projects in the interconnection queue. ERCOT is considering roughly 474 gigawatts of connection requests, with data centers accounting for about 90% of new power requests, raising warnings about grid reliability and stability. Abbott previously asked regulators to collect water and power usage data and to require data centers to fully fund needed electric infrastructure, increasing scrutiny on hundreds of planned facilities.
Regulators will audit and pause data center grid connections.
Context
The governor sent a June 10 letter asking for water and power use data from data centers. ERCOT now has about 474 gigawatts of pending requests. Regulators will audit projects and could deny connections that fail requirements.
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