Public Utility Commission of Texas

July 9, 2026

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89% of New Power Requests Are Datacenters. Abbott Wants Guardrails.

He's directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to make sure datacenter interconnections don't raise residential power costs or strain local water.

July 8, 2026

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Ratepayers Come Off the Hook. Developers Underwrite the Wires Themselves.

On June 10, the governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to require data centers to fund their own electric infrastructure and to "safeguard Texans, their property, and resources."

July 7, 2026

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The Permian Gets Texas's First 765 kV Backbone, and CREZ Wrote the Playbook

In April 2025, the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a $13.8 billion, 765-kilovolt transmission strategy for the Permian Basin, ERCOT's first extra-high-voltage backbone, betting deliberately that transmission corridors drive site selection the way CREZ accidentally did for wind and later data centers.

July 3, 2026

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Shared Interconnection Buys Speed. Disciplined Developers Already Underwrite the Curtailment.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas staff has endorsed ERCOT's operating conditions for Crusoe Energy and Ensign Infrastructure's AI campus behind the Goodnight 1 wind farm in Armstrong County, one of the first tests of Texas's framework for colocating large loads with existing generation.

June 26, 2026

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Five Tests Now Separate Real Load From Speculation in Texas

The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved ERCOT's "Batch Zero" study in June 2026, a centralized process that separates committed gigawatt-scale loads from speculative requests through readiness tests: site control, permits, financing, equipment orders, realistic demand forecasts.

June 25, 2026

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The PUC Just Made Your Interconnection Agreement the Only Thing That Matters

The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved ERCOT's Batch Zero framework, a one-time systemwide study that consolidates evaluation of new large loads of 75 MW or more, replacing the utility-by-utility reviews that buckled under AI demand.

June 22, 2026

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ERCOT Studies Big Loads in Batches Now. The Queue Math Just Changed.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved ERCOT's new batch-study process for projects 75MW and larger, the first time an independent system operator has adopted batch rules at that scale.

June 19, 2026

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Site Control Now Beats a Press Release in ERCOT's Queue

On June 18, the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved the Batch Zero framework, a solvency screen forcing projects above 75 MW to prove site control, post nonrefundable fees, and show credible financing before they hold a queue position.

June 18, 2026

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225 Interconnection Requests, One Filter: ERCOT Sorts Real From Paper

The board voted June 2 to launch "Batch Zero," a tiered process that isolates financed, land-secured projects from speculative paper, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas reviews the framework Thursday.

June 14, 2026

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Five Mandates, One Deadline: Abbott Hands PUCT the 2027 Blueprint

Governor Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT on Wednesday to submit recommendations by July 17 on data center water efficiency, ratepayer cost impacts, and community safeguards, with legislative proposals targeting the 2027 session.

June 10, 2026

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418 GW Knock on Texas Doors. Behind-the-Meter Builders Skip the Line.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas is building the screen that separates real load from speculative load before ratepayers eat the cost of phantom transmission.

June 2, 2026

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Ride-Through Becomes the New Phase I Discipline for Texas Sites

ERCOT's board votes Tuesday on ride-through rules that would require data centers to stay online during grid disturbances or face disconnection penalties, with the Public Utility Commission of Texas likely to finalize later this year.

June 1, 2026

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Tax Abatements Lose the Room. Power, Water, and Cost Causation Take Over.

ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas haven't taken up separate rate-class mechanics, but the question is coming.

May 30, 2026

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Reclaimed Water Cleared QTS's $10B Campus. Texas Developers Should Take Notes.

ERCOT doesn't yet separate data centers into a distinct customer class. Developers who negotiate cost-sharing terms now, while the regulatory frame is still forming, will shape what the Public Utility Commission of Texas eventually codifies.

May 28, 2026

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Helios Hits 1.6 GW on CREZ Lines Built for Wind a Decade Ago

Texas operates under different institutions, with ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas as the primary actors, but the national direction is set.

May 16, 2026

Texas's advantage is structural: ERCOT publishes the queue, the Public Utility Commission of Texas runs the interconnection framework, and AEP Texas can execute on a 1-GW campus while peer states debate whether to let municipalities veto projects.

May 14, 2026

The vote lands the same week ERCOT warned the Public Utility Commission of Texas it has "concerns" with its own 368 GW load forecast for 2032.

May 11, 2026

Texas operates under ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas with different mechanics, but the political template is portable.

April 27, 2026

The risk runs the other way too: if the Public Utility Commission of Texas treats private SMRs and gas self-supply as competitive threat rather than demand relief, permitting friction lands on the developers who moved earliest.

April 25, 2026

The Public Utility Commission of Texas unanimously approved the first direct wind-farm-to-datacenter connection on the ERCOT grid, the same week ERCOT's high-side demand scenario, peak load above 367,000 MW by 2032, was sent back as unrealistic.

April 24, 2026

ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas operate transparent dockets with defined queues, though PUCT has flagged demand forecasting uncertainty that developers should price in.

April 18, 2026

ERCOT filed a preliminary 2032 peak demand forecast of 367,790 megawatts with the Public Utility Commission of Texas this week, more than four times the August 2023 record of 85,508 MW.