Texas Governor Abbott Orders Audit of 474 GW Data Center Projects
Bitcoin miners' AI infrastructure is under scrutiny in Texas after Governor Greg Abbott ordered an audit of all data center projects seeking grid connection. The order, which affects over 474 GW of pending connection requests, aims to verify each project's power sourcing, water use, cooling plans, and ownership.
About 90% of the demand comes from data centers, with 28 out of 377 companies responding to a survey about their plans. Public Bitcoin miners have been pitching investors on multi-gigawatt AI infrastructure pipelines, but the audit puts these projects under review.
Hut 8 stands out as one of the most advanced players in this space, having raised $7.5 billion in project-level financing across two flagship sites in Louisiana and Texas. The company's pipeline includes over 8 GW of contracted IT capacity worth roughly $26.6 billion in expected base-term contract value.
However, not all miners are as fortunate. Cipher Digital, CleanSpark, and MARA have less mature sites that remain subject to ERCOT's batch process, carrying the risk of delays or denial.