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Written by Danny Levin, Deputy Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)
Reviewed by Britt Burt, Sr. VP of Research, Electric Power
Summary
Buoyed by the massive buildout of data centers across the state, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) recently said it saw a massive jump in large load interconnection requests over the past year. The grid operator said it will likely have to improve the state's power grid as a result.
ERCOT's Situation
At a Public Utility Commission (PUC) meeting Thursday, ERCOT said it saw a 227% increase in large load interconnection requests year-over-year, with more than 70% of the requests coming from data centers. In addition, the amount of large energy load requests compared to last year more than tripled--from 56 gigawatts (GW) to 205 GW.
Kristi Hobbs, ERCOT's vice president of system planning and weatherization, said changes may need to be made in order to better process those requests and steady the power grid.
"It's going to take work for grid enhancements," she said. "It's going take work from the large loads, making changes to their systems and how they operate, and in the middle there's ERCOT, and us improving our operating procedures and our planning processes so we can all meet that goal of reliable power in the state."
For more information on how data center growth is necessitating the need for power generation and grid reliability in the state and elsewhere, see October 24, 2025, article - Energy Summit: How Much Should Ratepayers Support Grid Buildout?, October 23, 2025, article - Energy Summit Explores Infrastructure Reliability, Resilience, October 9, 2025, article - Texas Could See Clean Energy Overtake Fossil-Fuel Generation This Year, and September 8, 2025, article - Conference: Nuclear is in Great Shape to Power U.S., Texas Grids.
In the aforementioned conference, an executive with Constellation Energy (Baltimore, Maryland) said more than 100 GW worth of new power demand could come online on the U.S. grid in less than 10 years, and more than 50% of that could realize in the ERCOT service area.
Related Construction Projects
One project aimed at shoring up the ERCOT grid and meeting increasing demand for data centers is the San Antonio South Reliability Project, primarily led by CPS Energy (San Antonio, Texas). The project entails constructing 50 miles of 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the Howard Substation to the San Miguel Substation; rebuilding 15 miles of double-circuit, 345-kV line between the Cagnon Substation and Howard Road Substation; and constructing a 138-kV line from Howard Road to the Leon Creek Substation. The project also entails expanding Howard Road by adding an autotransformer and associated equipment. Electricity utilities use autotransformers to step-up or step-down voltage in high-voltage transmission networks.
The project initially was slated to enter service as late as 2028 or 2029, but certain segments are being accelerated to come online next year.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for related project reports.
Last Energy (Austin, Texas) has obtained a site in Haskell, Texas, where it aims to deploy 30 nuclear microreactors to power data center customers across the state. The project is in its early planning phase: the company has already filed for a grid connection with ERCOT and is engaged in pre-application activities with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an early site permit (ESP). An issued ESP would approve the site for a nuclear power facility, independent of an application for a construction permit or combined license (construction and operatorship license).
Subscribers can click here for more information on the project.
After announcing the project plans, Bret Kugelmass, chief executive officer of Last Energy, said, "Texas is America's undisputed energy leader, but skyrocketing population growth and data center development is forcing policymakers, customers, and energy providers to embrace new technologies."
U.S. EIA: Solar, Wind, Batteries Increasingly Meeting ERCOT Demand
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook notes electricity demand in the ERCOT area, which manages about 90% of the state's load, for the first nine months of 2025 reached a record high compared with the same period in previous years.
In the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period in 2024, utility-scale solar generated 50% more power, and wind generation was up 4%. Wind and solar generation met 36% of ERCOT's electricity demand during this year's timeframe.
Key Takeaways
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Reviewed by Britt Burt, Sr. VP of Research, Electric Power
Summary
Buoyed by the massive buildout of data centers across the state, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) recently said it saw a massive jump in large load interconnection requests over the past year. The grid operator said it will likely have to improve the state's power grid as a result.
ERCOT's Situation
At a Public Utility Commission (PUC) meeting Thursday, ERCOT said it saw a 227% increase in large load interconnection requests year-over-year, with more than 70% of the requests coming from data centers. In addition, the amount of large energy load requests compared to last year more than tripled--from 56 gigawatts (GW) to 205 GW.
Kristi Hobbs, ERCOT's vice president of system planning and weatherization, said changes may need to be made in order to better process those requests and steady the power grid.
"It's going to take work for grid enhancements," she said. "It's going take work from the large loads, making changes to their systems and how they operate, and in the middle there's ERCOT, and us improving our operating procedures and our planning processes so we can all meet that goal of reliable power in the state."
For more information on how data center growth is necessitating the need for power generation and grid reliability in the state and elsewhere, see October 24, 2025, article - Energy Summit: How Much Should Ratepayers Support Grid Buildout?, October 23, 2025, article - Energy Summit Explores Infrastructure Reliability, Resilience, October 9, 2025, article - Texas Could See Clean Energy Overtake Fossil-Fuel Generation This Year, and September 8, 2025, article - Conference: Nuclear is in Great Shape to Power U.S., Texas Grids.
In the aforementioned conference, an executive with Constellation Energy (Baltimore, Maryland) said more than 100 GW worth of new power demand could come online on the U.S. grid in less than 10 years, and more than 50% of that could realize in the ERCOT service area.
Related Construction Projects
One project aimed at shoring up the ERCOT grid and meeting increasing demand for data centers is the San Antonio South Reliability Project, primarily led by CPS Energy (San Antonio, Texas). The project entails constructing 50 miles of 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the Howard Substation to the San Miguel Substation; rebuilding 15 miles of double-circuit, 345-kV line between the Cagnon Substation and Howard Road Substation; and constructing a 138-kV line from Howard Road to the Leon Creek Substation. The project also entails expanding Howard Road by adding an autotransformer and associated equipment. Electricity utilities use autotransformers to step-up or step-down voltage in high-voltage transmission networks.
The project initially was slated to enter service as late as 2028 or 2029, but certain segments are being accelerated to come online next year.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for related project reports.
Last Energy (Austin, Texas) has obtained a site in Haskell, Texas, where it aims to deploy 30 nuclear microreactors to power data center customers across the state. The project is in its early planning phase: the company has already filed for a grid connection with ERCOT and is engaged in pre-application activities with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an early site permit (ESP). An issued ESP would approve the site for a nuclear power facility, independent of an application for a construction permit or combined license (construction and operatorship license).
Subscribers can click here for more information on the project.
After announcing the project plans, Bret Kugelmass, chief executive officer of Last Energy, said, "Texas is America's undisputed energy leader, but skyrocketing population growth and data center development is forcing policymakers, customers, and energy providers to embrace new technologies."
U.S. EIA: Solar, Wind, Batteries Increasingly Meeting ERCOT Demand
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook notes electricity demand in the ERCOT area, which manages about 90% of the state's load, for the first nine months of 2025 reached a record high compared with the same period in previous years.
In the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period in 2024, utility-scale solar generated 50% more power, and wind generation was up 4%. Wind and solar generation met 36% of ERCOT's electricity demand during this year's timeframe.
Key Takeaways
- ERCOT saw a 200%+ increase in large load interconnection requests year-over-year
- Seventy percent of the requests came from data centers
- The U.S. EIA notes utility-scale solar and wind generation are increasingly powering the ERCOT grid
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
