Governor Greg Abbott announced a pause on new data center approvals in Texas, citing a lack of information from the industry. This decision, made on August 3, halts approvals for data centers seeking to connect to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid until an audit is completed.
The audit will evaluate tax incentives, power and water usage, cooling methods, community impact, and ownership of the facilities. Projects failing to meet the review criteria will not receive grid connections.
An Abbott spokesperson stated that fewer than 10 percent of data centers provided the requested power and water usage data. This pause follows a significant increase in electricity demand, with ERCOT reporting a 500 percent rise in peak usage.
The state is currently tracking over 1,800 projects in its interconnection queue, which collectively represent more than 474 gigawatts of requested capacity, exceeding the grid's record peak demand.
Despite the pause, the order does not prohibit data centers that generate their own power from connecting to the grid. Projections indicate that data center water consumption in Texas could reach between 29 billion and 161 billion gallons annually by 2030. As of now, neither the governor's office nor the White House has announced any changes to the order.
