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ARTICLE · 05 AUGUST 2026

Texas Halts Data Center Grid Connections Pending A Statewide Audit

K&L Gates
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Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter today to Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Thomas Gleeson and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) President and CEO Pablo Vegas directing both agencies to run a full verification and audit of every data center advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process. No new data center moves forward until that audit is done.

United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
John C. Crossley
John C. Crossley
Maria Faconti
Maria Faconti

The Order

Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter today to Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Thomas Gleeson and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) President and CEO Pablo Vegas directing both agencies to run a full verification and audit of every data center advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process. No new data center moves forward until that audit is done. Any project that fails the requirements set by the PUC, ERCOT, and state law will be denied connection to the grid.

Two things drove the order: scale and a compliance gap. ERCOT is reviewing about 474 gigawatts of connection requests, more than five times the state’s record peak demand, and roughly 90% of that new load is data centers. Gov. Abbott also pointed to data centers that failed to comply with the PUC’s survey on water and power use under the General Appropriations Act as a reason for this directive. He said that gap keeps regulators from making informed decisions.

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