ERCOT region in Texas

ERCOT large-load interconnection pause

Grid-interconnection pause

In effect This instrument is recorded as currently in effect as of the dataset date.

Summary

ERCOT's 20 August 2026 presentation says energization approvals are paused for data centers and virtual-currency mining facilities of 75 MW or greater until Batch Zero eligibility verification is complete. Its 14 September 2026 board update says that energization pause continues until the verification audit and community-impact review are complete. Neither opened document states the pause's legal start day, so this record does not assign one. A separate 3 August notice delayed Batch Zero classifications and sought timeline exceptions; it did not itself announce the energization pause. This is a grid-interconnection pause for the projects ERCOT describes. It is not a permanent ban on existing facilities.

Scope

ERCOT's 20 August 2026 presentation says ERCOT paused approvals to energize data centers and virtual-currency mining facilities of 75 MW or greater while it verified Batch Zero eligibility. That presentation says the pause does not stop energization approvals for non-data-center large loads and does not apply to medium loads. The 14 September 2026 board update says the energization pause for new large-load data centers and virtual-currency mining facilities continues until the verification audit and community-impact review are complete. ERCOT did not state the pause's legal start day in either opened document. The separate 3 August market notice delayed Batch Zero classifications but did not itself announce this energization pause. None of these documents orders existing operating facilities to shut down.

Geographic scope
ERCOT region in Texas
Jurisdiction
Regional grid
Authority type
Grid operator
Issuing authority
Electric Reliability Council of Texas

Dates

Adopted
No adoption day is recorded
Effective
Several dates apply; see the source
Scheduled expiration
See completion condition
Ended
Not recorded as ended
Completion condition
ERCOT's September 2026 board update says energization of the described large-load data centers and virtual-currency mining facilities stays paused until the verification audit and community-impact review are complete. A 10 December 2026 filing goal for two reports is not a scheduled expiration.
Source document
20 August 2026
Last checked
23 September 2026
About this date

This record was last checked before the tracker date, 11 November 2026. An earlier check date does not by itself mean the record's status has changed.

What this does not establish

  • The 20 August 2026 presentation describes the energization pause but does not state when it legally began. The 3 August market notice is recorded separately because it delays Batch Zero classifications and does not itself announce the energization pause.
  • 10 December 2026 is the date ERCOT gave for filing an eligibility-verification report and a community-impact review. It is not stored as a legal expiration.
  • ERCOT's presentation says non-data-center large loads may still receive energization approval and that medium loads are outside the Batch Zero energization pause.
  • The Public Utility Commission order granting the good-cause exceptions (Project No. 59142, item 53, filed 20 August 2026) was opened on 23 September 2026 and is proposed as its own record, tx-puct-59142-order-granting-good-cause-exceptions-20260820.
  • This implementation record does not replace the 3 August governor's letter.

Unresolved questions

  • The commission order's exact text, including any conditions beyond the three timeline exceptions described by ERCOT, was not read.
  • ERCOT's 20 August 2026 presentation says 17 large loads had finished other ERCOT processes but had not received energization approval. This record does not identify those projects or say whether they already hold construction permits.
  • How ERCOT applies the pause outside the 75 MW data-center and virtual-currency category, including projects that would serve themselves with off-site or behind-the-meter generation, is not settled by the 3 August notice.

Relationships

Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.

Sources

Primary source: Electric Reliability Council of Texas page on ercot.com

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