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Weekly recap · Sep 21 – 26, 2026

October 12 Gates Who Gets Studied in December

October 12 now decides who gets studied in December, and incomplete water files already carry Class C exposure across 18 counties.

The week in briefings

  1. Mon Sep 21Vegas Won't Sign the $6.4M ERCOT Deal After Lt. Gov. Patrick's Call
  2. Tue Sep 22Gov. Abbott Ties Noncompliance to Denial of Grid Connection
  3. Wed Sep 23Vistra's 5% Stake and 207 MW Firm PPA Open New Era's 1.4 GW Midland Path
  4. Thu Sep 24Oct. 12 Data Gates Who Gets Studied in ERCOT's Dec. 10 Audit
  5. Fri Sep 25Oct. 14 TWDB Deadline Now Carries Class C Exposure in 18 Counties
  6. Sat Sep 26Google Puts BESS and LVDC on Record as the Gigawatt Campus Standard

Audit Stack Prices Incomplete Packages

Governor Greg Abbott tied noncompliance on the large-load review to denial of grid connection, and the instrument is live: 461 proposed centers at or above 25 MW, responses due October 12, findings due December 10 Tue. ERCOT shares results with the Public Utility Commission of Texas. The same stack put Attorney General Ken Paxton into a criminal probe of water-use survey returns; non-return is a Class C misdemeanor and blocks TCEQ permits until cured, with TWDB compliance updates due October 14 and TCEQ reporting by October 19 Fri. PUCT already set security deposits at $50,000 per MW plus a $100,000 study fee for loads 75 MW and higher, so a 300 MW campus posts $15M before the study starts. Operators who don't finish demand, self-supply, and water packages before those dates won't clear paper, and posted capital sits idle while verified load jumps the batch Thu.

Firm Power Locks the COD Path

New Era Energy & Digital locked a 20-year PPA for up to 207 MW from Vistra's adjacent 1,180 MW Odessa plant at Phase 1 of its Midland campus, with first power in Q3 2027 and a path toward 1.4 GW. Vistra takes a 5% non-voting stake plus ROFR rights; New Era posts roughly $199M in credit support before delivery Wed. Behind-the-meter equipment orders now run near 75 GW, and Texas takes more volume than any other state. At Data Center World Power in Houston, Google put BESS and LVDC on the record as the gigawatt campus standard once diesel stops scaling past about 1 GW Sat. Sites still underwriting pure utility offtake without co-invested generation or storage are competing for the scarcest capacity, and they'll book carrying cost between hall COD and energization that firm packages don't.

Open Dockets Harden Disclosure

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick pressed the ERCOT board after a six-year CEO package topped out near $6.4M, and ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas won't sign that deal after the call Mon. Rate and load filings in Hays and Medina counties landed in PUCT Control No. 58317, putting named legislators on the record against large-load growth and at least 1,600 MW of Medina proposals. State Sen. Tan Parker said he'll file transparency legislation when the Legislature convenes Jan. 12. Thin ownership and incentive records become the exhibits opponents read into open files; publish MW, water, and queue position before the record hardens without you.

What to Watch

  • October 12: ERCOT large-load RFI responses that gate the December 10 audit
  • October 14 and October 19: TWDB and TCEQ compliance reports to the Governor's office
  • Open PUCT 58317 comment filings on pay-own-way scope and large-load verification
  • Jan. 12: State Sen. Tan Parker's transparency bill filing window