Developers who seek to have their projects included in the batch also will be required to post a financial security equal to $50,000 per megawatt.
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New rules meant to accelerate approvals for developers seeking to connect data centers and other large loads to the state power grid have been approved by the Texas Public Utility Commission.
Adopted June 18, the rules will allow the ERCOT grid operator to evaluate interconnection requests by large industrial consumers in batches, as opposed to individually. ERCOT, also known as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, gave their preliminary approval to the approval framework earlier this month.
According to information released by ERCOT, projects that are further along in the developmental process will be prioritized for interconnections. Developers who seek to have their projects included in the batch process also will be required to post a financial security equal to $50,000 per megawatt. The first group of applicants under the new system — a group is known as “Batch Zero” — will be notified in August, according to ERCOT.
“This new process represents a fundamental shift in how ERCOT manages the significant growth of large load interconnection, providing a structured, transparent path forward that protects reliability for Texans while supporting the state’s continued economic growth,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said in a prepared statement.
With the new framework, ERCOT and the PUC hope to address the staggering influx of grid interconnection requests from data centers as well as some other large energy consumers. Under some projections, power demand could reach anywhere from 138 gigawatts to 209 gigawatts within ERCOT by 2030. For context, 138 GW would reflect an increase of 62 percent over ERCOT’s current peak energy use.
In addition to the new Batch framework, the rules include provisions to facilitate interconnections for large customers seeking to build their own onsite generation to self-supply some or all their electricity. Additionally, the framework creates a pathway to connect for large customers who agree to let ERCOT curtail their power use in response to local transmission constraints.
According to information released by ERCOT, the new framework received approval from the organization’s Protocol Revision Subcommittee (PRS), Reliability and Operations Subcommittee (ROS), the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), and the ERCOT Board of Directors prior to PUC consideration. ERCOT said the principles established through the Batch Zero framework will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive transmission planning process to be developed later this year.
Next Steps
- ERCOT expects to notify Batch Zero applicants of their project classification in August 2026, at which point the full scope of Batch Zero will be known.
- A final transmission plan covering the entire batch of projects across the state is expected to be published in Fall 2027.
- While not all interconnection requests will result in built projects, ERCOT data shows the majority expect to be operational by 2030.