Texas energy regulators sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking for more authority to oversee data centers as the proliferation of the massive computer centers spikes power demand in the state.
The letter from the Public Utility Commission of Texas came in response to a June directive from Abbott to the commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which ordered both to minimize data centers’ impacts on customers of residential utilities.
In its July 17 letter, the PUCT offered suggestions for creating laws during the upcoming 90th Session of the Texas Legislature to rein in data center development. Texas is experiencing one of the biggest data center booms in the nation, and demand is only expected to grow.
PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson said the PUCT and ERCOT have already adopted policies to prepare for the influx of the massive centers. The PUCT also is working to ensure existing power plants continue to provide energy to everyday Texans, even if those facilities also are suppling power to new data centers.
However, Gleeson said his agency and ERCOT need additional help from lawmakers. He’s requesting legislation that would allow it to communicate directly with data centers and urge them to cut back on energy consumption ahead of state emergencies.
Under current state law, ERCOT — the operator of the state’s power grid — must instead communicate with data centers’ utility companies if power usage must be reduced due to an emergency.
The PUCT also asked for clarification about its authority to regulate end users in a way it hasn’t had to before.
“With a few limited exceptions, the PUCT has not historically regulated the activities of end use customers,” Gleeson wrote. “Until recently, individual consumers have not represented a risk to the reliable operation of the ERCOT transmission system. The rapid influx of large loads — in particular, large computational loads — has changed that risk profile.”
Data centers should also be required to register with the state, Gleeson argued.
Gleeson also argued that large computational load customers should register with ERCOT. This knowledge would enable the operator “to reliably operate and plan the power grid,” he added.
Further, Gleeson said data centers should be required to comply with an existing Texas law that prohibits certain foreign-linked companies from having “direct or remote access to, or control over, Texas critical infrastructure.” That law, known as the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, currently only applies to power plants and transmission companies.
Abbott’s June directive also required data centers to pay for the costs of their electric infrastructure, to which Gleeson responded that the PUCT is looking at “requiring large consumers of electricity to pay upfront the direct costs to interconnect their facilities and begin paying transmission charges as soon as capacity becomes available, even if they have not energized.”
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