Texas Moratorium Won't Touch Bitcoin Miners' Grid Connections

Texas Governor Greg Abbott's moratorium on new ERCOT grid connections for data centers has sparked concerns in the crypto mining industry, but analysts at Bernstein say it won't impact Bitcoin miners who already have approved electricity contracts.

The moratorium targets new projects seeking grid connections, not operations that are already plugged in. The Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT will audit every data center project sitting in the interconnection queue before any further approvals move forward. This audit is aimed at roughly 90% of recent large-load requests in the ERCOT interconnection queue.

According to Bernstein, if no new competitors can secure grid connections while the audit plays out, the value of already-approved power capacity will go up. Bitcoin miners operating in Texas have pre-approved sites, legacy power contracts, and experience operating as large flexible loads under ERCOT's demand response programs, exactly the kind of grid-friendly behavior that compliance audits are designed to reward.