Texas pauses data center grid connections pending audits

Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to audit all data center projects in ERCOT’s interconnection process before any further approvals, and ERCOT has suspended Batch Zero Large Load classification notifications.

• Abbott’s August 3, 2026 letter requires project-level disclosures covering tax incentives, power use and generation plans, water use and cooling operations, community impacts, and facility ownership and control; projects that fail the audit must be denied grid connection.
• ERCOT said it will not issue the previously scheduled August 7, 2026 Batch Zero notifications and will seek a good cause exception at the August 20, 2026 PUCT open meeting; the article also cites Senate Bill 6 (signed June 2025) and notes Texas has over 474 GW of interconnection requests, about 90% tied to data centers.