Texas governor freezes data center rollout amid ERCOT power strain

Texas has a math problem. The state’s power grid is handling a peak demand of around 91 gigawatts, yet developers have lined up to connect more than 474 GW worth of projects, the overwhelming majority of them data centers. That gap, five times over, is precisely why Governor Greg Abbott stepped in on August 3, 2026, to freeze new approvals and demand answers. Abbott’s directive mandates a comprehensive audit of every data center project sitting in the interconnection queue managed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. No new project gets a green light until the review is complete. How the queue got this out of hand Back in April 2026, ERCOT’s large-load interconnection queue sat at roughly 410 GW, with about 87% of that tied to data centers. By August, the queue had climbed to 474 GW, with approximately 90% of the demand, around 420 GW, attributed to data centers alone. ERCOT’s peak demand of 91 GW was recorded on July 22, 2026, just days before Abbott’s audit directive landed. ERCOT had already begun pulling back before Abbott’s order arrived, postponing its review of so-called “Batch Zero” project approvals that had been schedule...