Texas Governor Greg Abbott orders emergency audit of all pending data center projects and halts grid connection approvals until review completes

Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered state energy regulators to halt approvals for all new data center projects attempting to join the state's power grid until a comprehensive audit and verification process is completed.

In a directive issued to Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) Chairman Thomas Gleeson and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO Pablo Vegas, Abbott warned that failure to comply with the new audit requirements or state standards will result in immediate denial of grid connection.

"Our top priority is to protect Texans' safety and quality of life," Abbott said. "Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first."

The mandate comes as ERCOT faces an unprecedented surge in power demand. According to state figures, ERCOT is evaluating roughly 474 gigawatts in grid connection requests—more than five times the state's current record peak electricity demand. Roughly 90% of those incoming requests stem from energy-intensive data centers.

State officials warned that the rapid influx of computing infrastructure threatens the overall stability and reliability of the state's main electrical grid.

In his letter, Abbott noted that the strict audit was triggered in part because several data center operators failed to comply with a state survey measuring water and power usage under the General Appropriations Act. He added that recent legislative hearings highlighted mounting public concern over how data centers affect municipal utility supplies and surrounding neighborhoods.

Under the executive directive, the PUCT and ERCOT must collect detailed disclosures from every pending data center project. Neither ERCOT nor the PUCT has announced an official timeline for completing the audit process.