Governor Greg Abbott has halted the approval process for new data centers looking to connect to the Texas electric grid, mandating that state regulators conduct audits of these projects first.
This directive was issued on August 3, with a letter sent to the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the organization responsible for managing the grid that serves most of the state.
Currently, ERCOT is monitoring over 1,800 projects in its interconnection queue, which collectively represent more than 474 gigawatts of requested capacity, significantly exceeding the grid's peak demand. Approximately 90 percent of these requests are from data centers. The queue has seen rapid growth, doubling from 233 gigawatts in January.
Little Elm is about 28 miles north of Dallas, which is the second largest market for data centers in the United States. Texas is projected to potentially surpass Northern Virginia and become the largest data center market globally by 2030. In total, at least 248 data center projects are planned statewide, with 26 large campuses identified in North Texas alone.
The audits will gather data on various factors, including electricity demand, water usage, on-site generation plans, and potential impacts on nearby communities. Abbott's office had previously requested some of this information voluntarily, but many operators did not respond, leading to the decision for mandatory audits. No timeline for the completion of these audits has been provided.
