Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced a moratorium on the approval of data centers in the state until regulatory agencies can audit proposed data centers seeking connection to the state’s electric grid.

Background

This move comes amid growing public backlash to the rapid buildout of data centers across Texas. The governor is asking the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure data center developers provide information on tax breaks they will receive, power use and generation, water use and cooling operations, efforts to reduce impacts on local communities, and ownership of the facility.

Abbott’s letter to the PUCT and ERCOT directs them to conduct the audit on all data centers advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection queue, which currently has over 1,800 projects, representing over 474 gigawatts of electricity. Approximately 90% of the new power requests are data centers.

Regulatory Review

The PUCT and ERCOT are already conducting a review of some of the projects in the queue through a process known as “batch zero.” However, it is unclear if Abbott wants agencies to audit those projects or all those currently in the queue.

Environment Texas, an advocacy group, has called for tighter regulation of the industry, stating that Abbott’s order is asking the right questions but that the state needs to use the answers to develop safeguards that protect Texans.

Original reporting: San Antonio Report — read the source article.