ERCOT Audit Freezes Data Center Queue in Texas
Texas is no longer an attractive destination for data centers, at least temporarily. The ERCOT audit ordered by Governor Abbott on August 3 has put a hold on the interconnection queue, and the effects are already being felt.
The backlog of pending requests had reached 474 GW, about 90% of which were from data centers. This is more than five times the highest electricity demand Texas has ever recorded, which was 91,089 MW. The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) had set a security deposit of $50,000 per megawatt for projects above 75 MW.
The ERCOT Batch Zero framework, approved on June 18, aimed to speed up the review process by grouping qualifying projects and studying their combined impact on the grid. However, the audit has now put everything on hold.