Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state regulators Monday to pause approval of new data center connections to the state’s power grid pending a comprehensive audit, in a directive to regulators and a follow-up post on X. About 90% of the pending large-load interconnection requests in Texas come from data centers, more than five times the state’s record peak electricity demand, and his local voters are a bit worried about the decision. Some are questioning his tolerance of foreigners setting up shop, while he puts a clamp on data centers instead.
Earlier, the Texas governor took to X to talk about his decision, saying the following.
I paused new data center projects pending a statewide grid audit. Data centers must disclose their plans to pay their own way, provide their own power, reuse their own water, reduce the cost of electricity, & avoid disturbing neighborhoods. Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUC and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.
The Data Center Coalition, a trade group representing major tech companies, said it was “hopeful Abbott’s directive could separate responsible developers from irresponsible ones,” according to The Texas Tribune.
ERCOT spokesperson Trudi Webster said the grid operator “is reviewing Governor Abbott’s letter concerning data centers and will work with the Public Utility Commission of Texas to implement the Governor’s directive, including postponement of the Batch Zero transmission planning study,” per Houston Public Media. This decision has been met with a massive dose of skepticism by Republicans in the state, who had some strong opinions on the decision to focus on this while letting new Mosques and immigration run rampant.
“This is a terrible idea. Remove roadblocks. Help them setup their own power behind the grid. Absolutely the wrong path. You are supposed to help not hinder. This is what our enemies want. You are getting bad advice.”
“But you allow giant [expletive] mosques”
“Pause the Islamic and H1B Invasion; we don’t actually care about Datacenters.”
It’s unclear how long the audit across Texas will take, and the pause doesn’t apply to data centers building their own on-site power generation to bypass ERCOT’s grid connection process entirely.
