Scope
The 10 June 2026 letter directs the Public Utility Commission of Texas to take action so that data centers' interconnections result in reduced residential electric bills and so that data centers pay for all of their electric infrastructure costs, directs the commission and ERCOT to review their existing authorities, and requires a joint memorandum to the governor by 17 July 2026. It tells the commission to initiate action to reduce residential transmission costs by 31 July 2026. The letter does not itself adopt a rule, set a tariff, or pause any approval.
- Geographic scope
- Texas
- Jurisdiction
- State
- Authority type
- Executive
- Issuing authority
- Governor of Texas
Dates
- Adopted
- 10 June 2026
- Effective
- 10 June 2026
- Scheduled expiration
- See completion condition
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- The letter states no expiration. 17 July 2026 (joint memorandum) and 31 July 2026 (initiate transmission-cost action) are deliverable dates, not end dates.
- Source document
- 10 June 2026
- Last checked
- 23 September 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)
Summary
On 10 June 2026 Governor Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas to take action to require data centers to pay for all of their electric infrastructure costs so that residential ratepayers are not burdened, and directed the commission and ERCOT to review their authorities and send a joint memorandum by 17 July 2026. The commission filed the letter in Project No. 58317, and its chairman's 17 July 2026 response describes rulemaking under way, with a final decision expected in December 2026. The letter's list of legislation the governor will pursue in the next session is a statement of intent, not enacted law.
What this does not establish
- This is a governor's letter to two agencies. It is not a statute or commission rule, and it does not set any data center's rates.
- The copy used is the one the Public Utility Commission filed in Project No. 58317 (item 16); the governor's website copy was not separately opened.
- This tracker has no category for a directive to change cost allocation; the reporting and resource-use category is the closest fit and is not a finding that a reporting duty falls on any data center.
- The pledges to seek legislation (repealing data-center sales-tax exemptions, requiring closed-loop cooling, annual reporting and setbacks) are intent only. Texas held no legislative session in 2026; the next regular session begins 12 January 2027.
- The later 3 August 2026 audit directive (record tx-abbott-ercot-approval-pause-20260803) refers back to this letter; the two letters are separate instruments.
Unresolved questions
- Whether the commission's pending cost-allocation rulemaking (Project No. 58000) will be adopted in the form the chairman's response describes was not established.
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.
- Related, not a replacement ERCOT approval pause pending audit (In effect)
Sources
https://interchange.puc.texas.gov/Documents/58317_16_1658974.PDF
- PUCT chairman's 17 July 2026 response to the governor (Project No. 58317, item 18) agency response describing actions taken and planned under the letter · 17 July 2026