Texas: nearly 500 GW of large loads asking to connect, and new data-centre energization on hold
ERCOT told state senators about 474 GW of large-load connection requests, up from 410 GW in March. Since the 3 August directive, energization approvals for new 75 MW+ loads are paused pending a verification audit.
ERCOT told state senators in late July that about 474 GW of large loads were seeking connection, roughly nine-tenths of them data centres — up from about 410 GW in March.
After the Governor's 3 August directive, ERCOT stopped approving energization for new data-centre and crypto-mining loads until a verification audit is complete. Final Batch Zero classifications are expected in December.
The September sort
In September's provisional sort, 362 projects totalling about 194 GW qualified for the first batch study, and about 302 GW across 373 projects was left out.
Generation waits too
Berkeley Lab found that the median US power project completed in 2025 took about five years — 61 months — from interconnection request to commercial operation, in the regions that report the data. That figure is for generators, not loads, and it is worth reading beside the load-side numbers rather than as a like-for-like comparison.
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