Texas slams on the brakes for 1,800 data centers, power grid requirements are five times higher than peak record demand — 474 gigawatts of power requests are now subject to new moratorium
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) instructed PUCT and ERCOT to pause all data center applications until they complete an audit on all the information that data center developers must submit. The move reportedly came after PUCT asked 377 data center operators to submit water and power use, of which only 28 complied.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a moratorium on data center approvals through the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) until these agencies complete an audit of data centers applying to connect to the state's electric grid. The governor's aim is to ensure that applicants provide tax break information, power use and generation data, water use and cooling operations details, community impact reduction measures, and facility ownership information. Applications that fail to submit this information will not be allowed to connect to the grid.
In a statement, Governor Abbott emphasized the importance of protecting Texans' safety and quality of life, stating that any project not complying with the established requirements and state law must be denied connection to the Texas grid. The review is a response to several data centers' non-compliance with a PUCT survey regarding water and power usage. Of the 377 data center companies surveyed, only 28 have submitted the required information so far.
The moratorium impacts over 1,800 data center projects awaiting approval from ERCOT, with 90% of these projects being data centers. The combined demand from these applications is projected to be 474 gigawatts, a figure five times higher than ERCOT's current peak demand and significantly above the forecasted data center demand by 2035. However, projects outside ERCOT's jurisdiction, such as those in El Paso, Texas, remain unaffected. Moreover, projects that generate their own power are also not subject to the moratorium.
Critics argue that the moratorium, while a step in the right direction, falls short of what is needed. State Representative Gina Hinojosa, Abbott's opponent in the November 2026 gubernatorial race, called the directive "empty political rhetoric" and stated that the state legislature must pass a law to regulate the data center industry, which is the second-largest in the U.S. after Virginia. Hinojosa emphasized that without such legislation, the current directive is ineffective.
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