ERCOT
-
Grid interconnection Connecting large loads
ERCOT Says It Has Paused the Energization of New Large Load Data Centers and Crypto Mining Facilities Until Its Verification and Audit and Community Impact Review Are Complete
In an update for its board meeting of September 14 and 15, 2026, ERCOT says it has begun a verification and audit of the eligibility of all large loads provisionally included in its Batch Zero study, and that it is still determining the impact on the study's timeline.
-
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Says Phasor Measurements Can Understate Higher-Frequency Oscillations from AI Training Data Centers
The laboratory's report says artificial intelligence training data centers "with periodic load profiles can induce sustained grid oscillations across a wide frequency range," and that "the filtering inherent in the phasor estimation process can significantly attenuate oscillation magnitudes."
-
Grid interconnection Connecting large loads
Money Down Before the Study: The Texas Commission's Large Load Interconnection Standards
Texas now requires a large load customer to execute an intermediate agreement, provide certain disclosures and post financial security before it can be included in an ERCOT interconnection study. The commission's rule also sets out when that security is returned, and when it is forfeited.
-
"Fault Cleared Properly": PJM Reviews Its Load Transfer Events
PJM's operational review of October 6 lists three dates on which load transferred to backup generation. The slide for each describes a fault on a transmission line and carries the same line: fault cleared properly.
-
Rapid Fluctuations in Active Power Consumption: Large Loads in ERCOT's Board Update of September 2026
ERCOT told its board in September 2026 that large loads, "particularly those associated with data center AI training processes, are capable of producing rapid fluctuations in active power consumption," and that its draft NOGRR "will recommend" a limit on that variation.
-
Grid interconnection Connecting large loads
Studied Together: ERCOT's New Batch Process for Connecting Large Electricity Users
An explainer by the grid operator ERCOT, dated June 18, 2026, describes how it will study connection requests from large electricity users together, in batches, and two optional pathways for users that bring their own generation or let ERCOT reduce their power consumption.
-
A Record Expected in 2027: EIA's Forecast of Natural Gas Burned for Power
In May 2026 the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast that the power sector's natural gas use would hold level in the summer of 2026 and set a record in the summer of 2027, with new data centers and large manufacturing facilities among the reasons it gives for rising commercial demand.
-
Grid interconnection Connecting large loads
Unless Approved by the Commission: The Texas Rule on Large Loads Co-Located With Existing Generation
A Texas rule filed on March 26, 2026 says an existing power plant registered with ERCOT may not net its output against a large load beside it unless the Public Utility Commission of Texas approves. ERCOT studies each arrangement, and the commission then approves it "with or without conditions," or denies it.
-
If Demand Grew Faster: EIA's Scenario for Gas, Coal and Wholesale Prices in Texas
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's analysis of March 12, 2026 models electricity demand growing faster than its February forecast, with no more generating capacity than that forecast assumed. In the scenario the added generation would come primarily from natural gas, and the effect on wholesale prices would be most pronounced in Texas.
-
Typically Without UPS or Backup Generators: NERC's Review of Crypto-Mining Load Loss in ERCOT
In January 2026 NERC reviewed 26 events, identified by ERCOT, in which crypto-mining facilities in Texas lost load in response to normally cleared transmission faults. Such facilities, it says, typically have no UPS systems or backup generators, unlike AI data centers, and some are transitioning toward AI or cloud workloads.
-
Grid interconnection Grid constraints
Lines to Import Power: ERCOT's Reliability Plan for the Permian Basin Region
In July 2024 ERCOT filed a plan for the transmission needed to serve forecast load in the Permian Basin region of West Texas. Its paper on the plan says significant lines will be needed to import power, and sets out the forecast load and cost estimates for options at different voltages.
