The PUCT will decide whether to approve ERCOT's Batch Zero process, a new framework for connecting power-hungry data centers and crypto mining facilities to the grid.
Texas has a power problem, and it’s the kind most states would love to have. So many companies want to plug into the state’s electric grid that the queue of requests has become unmanageable. On July 9, the Public Utility Commission of Texas will vote on a new process designed to fix that.
The vote centers on ERCOT’s proposed Batch Zero framework, a system for handling interconnection requests from large loads, defined as facilities with a peak demand of 75 MW or greater. Think data centers, Bitcoin mining operations, and AI training facilities.
What Batch Zero actually changes #
Here’s the thing about Texas’s current interconnection process: it evaluates requests one at a time. Each facility gets its own individual study to determine whether the grid can handle the new demand. That worked fine when requests trickled in at a manageable pace.
It does not work when you’re staring down roughly 410 GW of pending requests, which is the backlog ERCOT was tracking as of March 2026. For context, the entire ERCOT grid has a peak capacity of around 85 GW. The queue is nearly five times the grid’s total capacity.
Batch Zero would transition from those individualized studies to a system-wide batch evaluation. Instead of studying each project in isolation, ERCOT would assess groups of interconnection requests together, modeling their collective impact on the grid.
The ERCOT Board approved the underlying framework, known as Planning Guide Revision Request 145, during its June 1-2 meeting. The July 9 PUCT vote is the regulatory green light the process needs before it can actually go into effect.
Why the queue is so massive #
Data centers account for approximately 87% of the large load interconnection requests in ERCOT’s pipeline. The backlog ballooned from around 63 GW at the end of 2024 to 410 GW by March 2026.
The legislative foundation for this was laid a year ago. Senate Bill 6, enacted on June 20, 2025, mandated that the PUCT establish interconnection standards specifically for large loads, addressing study methodologies, financial responsibility, and efficient resource allocation. That bill gave the commission the authority and the directive to create exactly the kind of framework that Batch Zero represents.
Crypto mining facilities have already been navigating heightened regulatory requirements in Texas. Since early 2025, virtual currency mining operations with capacity over 75 MW have been required to register as large flexible loads.
What this means for crypto miners and data center operators #
The 75 MW threshold captures most industrial-scale Bitcoin mining operations. These facilities have historically benefited from Texas’s deregulated energy market, where they can negotiate directly with power generators and participate in demand response programs that pay them to shut down during peak grid stress.
For investors in publicly traded Bitcoin miners with Texas operations, the vote is worth watching closely. Companies that already have grid connections and operating facilities hold a structural advantage over competitors still stuck in the queue. If Batch Zero accelerates the timeline for new entrants, that advantage narrows. Texas is currently leading the nation in attracting large-scale digital infrastructure, but that leadership depends on the state’s ability to actually deliver power to the facilities trying to set up shop there. A 410 GW backlog is not a sign of a system that’s delivering.
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