Abbott’s letter to the PUCT and ERCOT directs them to conduct the audit on all data centers advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection queue, or the line for energy intensive projects seeking connection to the electric grid. ERCOT is currently tracking more than 1,800 projects in the queue, representing over 474 gigawatts of electricity, or more than five times the grid’s record for peak demand, according to ERCOT. Approximately 90% of the new power requests are data centers, Abbott said.
Said letter: https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-directs-comprehensive-data-center-audit
There is no state or federal government database of the facilities, but the Texas Tribune has identified at least 335 data centers operating in Texas. The state is currently the second largest market for the facilities in the country, behind Virginia, and is poised to take the top spot. The Tribune has identified at least 248 planned data centers coming to the state, although hundreds more in lesser development phases have lined up in the power queue.
The Tribune published this interactive investigative data piece I haven't had time to dive into yet: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/08/texas-regulation-data-centers-electricity-power-water/
forgot ~Construction_and_Engineering crap! Someone needs to implement territory recommendations when posting.
hmm, that's not a good sign for Texas
Audits are a corruption layer to prioritize certain entities in a queue designed to thwart others... it's a gift to existing operators to slow/deter competition from coming online and increase their costs
Might be a silver lining given how much stuff is centralizing in Texas, and if Texas has fallen behind-the-meter starts looking like the default way to spec builds.
Also really good for SpaceX