The Texas Construction News staff writer
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to comprehensively audit all data centers advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process. The state will deny connection to the Texas grid for any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by PUCT and ERCOT.
The order was issued on Aug. 3, as ERCOT evaluates over 474 gigawatts of connection requests. Data centers account for approximately 90% of these new power requests. According to the governor’s office, this unprecedented load growth—which is more than five times Texas’ record peak electricity demand—could threaten the stability of the grid.
The audit will evaluate:
- The extent to which facilities rely on state or local financial assistance, such as grants or tax incentives.
- Data centers’ ability to provide their own power rather than relying entirely on the ERCOT grid.
- Water consumption and reuse practices, including the specific cooling technologies utilized.
- Community impact mitigation efforts, such as noise control, light reduction, and traffic improvements.
PUCT affirms emergency curtailment authority over co-located data centers
AUSTIN— In the first test case under Texas Senate Bill 6, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) affirmed its authority to mandate emergency load curtailments on co-located data centers. The July 24, order in Docket No. 59220 approved a net metering application between a large data center load and a standalone generation resource.
The ruling establishes that emergency load curtailments imposed on co-located data centers are not capped by the capacity of the paired behind-the-meter generator.
According to the order, co-located large loads must maintain the capability to fully curtail power consumption within 30 minutes of an ERCOT emergency instruction without receiving financial compensation.
These co-located arrangements are also expressly prohibited from participating in paid ERCOT demand response or load management programs.
