Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) ordered an audit to be conducted on data center approvals after mounting concerns over power generation.
“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” Abbott said in a statement. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.”
Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to conduct the audit, which must be completed before any data center development continues. According to Abbott’s office, about 90% of the new energy requests come from data centers. The overall demand is more than five times the state’s peak electricity requests, which “could endanger the reliability and stability of the Texas electric grid.”
In his letter to PUCT and ERCOT, the governor requested that the entities collect information relating to the “extent to which data centers are paying their own way or depending on the state for financial assistance,” and the “extent to which data centers are bringing their own.”
Abbott previously went after a data center project after finding the development failed to meet state standards. The company behind the project later pulled the plug on the effort. “Data centers that want to do business in Texas must meet a clear standard. This project did not,” Abbott said in response to the withdrawal.
The proposed data center had sparked pushback from residents in the rural communities surrounding Cedar Creek Lake, who raised concerns about a large-scale industrial facility being located near their homes and families.
