Texas orders audit of surging data centre power demand
Developing story first seen 3 hours ago
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state utility bodies to audit all proposed new data centres, requiring the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to gather details on developers' ownership, finances, power and water needs, and plans to limit harm to residents. This follows the revelation that ERCOT is currently processing grid connection requests totalling more than 474 gigawatts, over 90% of it from data centre projects, which the governor's office warns could threaten the reliability of the Texas power grid.
Texas already hosts 521 data centres, second only to Virginia nationally, and the scale of pending requests dwarfs the state's existing capacity. The move follows a broader pattern of pushback against data centre expansion at federal, state and municipal level across the US, as concerns grow over strain on electricity and water resources and the industry's mounting unpopularity with residents.
- Abbott orders audit of all new Texas data centre proposals
- ERCOT reviewing 474+ gigawatts of grid connection requests
- Texas already has 521 data centres, second-most in the US
New here? Start with this
Texas has become one of the biggest hubs for data centres in the United States, second only to Virginia, largely because of its relatively loose regulations and available land. These facilities, which power everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, consume huge amounts of electricity and water, and demand for new sites has grown so fast that grid operator ERCOT is now handling connection requests worth far more power than the state currently produces.
Governor Greg Abbott, along with the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT, oversees how the state's electricity grid is managed and how new large power users are connected to it. The audit he has ordered will require data centre developers to disclose who owns and finances their projects, how much power and water they need, and what steps they are taking to avoid harming local residents.
The issue matters because Texas's power grid operates largely independently from the rest of the country and has faced reliability problems before, including major failures during extreme weather. A wave of new data centres competing for electricity and water raises questions about whether the grid can cope, and reflects a wider debate playing out across the US over how to balance the growth of the tech industry against the needs of local communities.
More coverage
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Engadget as “Texas governor orders audit of new data centers after realizing over 400 gigawatts of power is a lot”.