By Hunter Burney – Texas Score Card

• A new process has been approved by state regulators to expedite the connection of multiple large electricity users to the Texas power grid, including data centers. Hunter Burney has the details.
     
• The plan from the Public Utility Commission and Electric Reliability Council of Texas is intended to streamline the processing of more than 438,000 megawatts of large-load requests—nearly 89 percent of which are from data centers. As part of the new process, large users may be required to develop on-site self‑generation to supplement their power needs and must agree that ERCOT can limit their electricity use when transmission constraints arise.
    
• The change follows reports that several large data centers recently failed reliability tests, raising concerns about their potential to destabilize the Texas grid. It also comes after Gov. Greg Abbott cautioned state regulators that data centers should pay their own infrastructure costs.