Governor Greg Abbott told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ (the state's environmental regulator), on 21 September to "pause the issuance of all permits related to data center projects"1. The order covers new and pending permits alike. It runs until projects "pay their own way, protect our grid and water", and until two state audits of power and water are complete. TCEQ has until 19 October to report that it has complied.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT (which runs most of the state's grid), holds a large-load queue of 438 GW (gigawatts), about 90% of it data centres. Texas's peak demand is about 85 GW, so the queue stands at roughly five times what the grid carries on its busiest day.
Abbott ordered the power audit on 3 August, covering every queued project, and ERCOT suspended its own sorting of the queue the same day. In mid-September ERCOT sent a questionnaire of about 130 questions to more than 400 projects, covering subsidies, self-supplied power, water, community impact and ownership, KERA News reported2. Answers are due in mid-October, and final results are targeted for 10 December. The Texas Water Development Board runs the water audit.
ERCOT's queue grew under rules that made joining it cheap. Abbott's freeze acts at the permitting agency instead, so it also binds developers who planned their own gas turbines and diesel generators, which need air permits, and never entered the queue at all. Abbott has not refused any permit: a project that clears both audits can resume.
