Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a moratorium on data center approvals on August 3 until state regulators complete a comprehensive audit of proposed facilities seeking grid connection. The freeze affects ERCOT's interconnection queue, which currently tracks 1,800+ projects representing 474 gigawatts of electricity demand—more than five times the grid's recorded peak demand. Approximately 90% of pending requests are data centers, according to the governor.
Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to verify that projects provide tax-break disclosures, power/water usage, cooling operations, community impact measures, and facility ownership. The audit was triggered by poor compliance: PUCT surveyed 377 data center companies but only 28 submitted required information. ERCOT has paused its 'batch zero' review of some projects, and approval timelines remain unclear.
For infrastructure teams, this is a capacity constraint with real timing impact. Texas is the second-largest data center market in the U.S. (after Virginia), but unilateral GPU-cluster expansion plans now depend on ERCOT audit completion. New York's year-long data center pause (July 2026) set a precedent; Texas's audit could easily extend project timelines 6+ months. Hyperscalers with committed ERCOT queues should monitor batch-zero progression and consider El Paso (outside ERCOT) or self-powered builds as alternatives.