Articles · Land, water and permitting
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A permit halt is scoped by who asks for the permit. It waits on two audits, and the record states the scope of only one of them.
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The Governor directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to suspend action on all permits sought by data center projects. In the Governor's own words as CBS Texas carried them, TCEQ will issue no permits sought by data center projects until data centers complete the ERCOT and water board audits.
The directive reaches past the one agency it is addressed to. The Texas Tribune reports that it says no other state agency shall move forward with regulatory approvals related to data centers until this information is acquired. It also sets a date for a report to the Office of the Governor on its compliance with the directive, October 19th.
Two scopes
The halt is written around the applicant. It names permits sought by data center projects. It waits on two audits. The Tribune reports the August letter aimed the ERCOT audit at all data centers advancing through ERCOT's interconnection queue. The Tribune dates that order August 3rd.
Troutman Pepper Locke reads the directive as saying the agency must align its permitting decisions with forthcoming audit results from ERCOT and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Two audits, then. The record gives the ERCOT audit's scope and states nothing about the water board's.
The Governor's August 3rd statement, as the Texas Tribune quoted it, names a grid consequence. Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. The Tribune reports the same consequence for a project that does not finish. Projects that fail to complete the ERCOT audit are to be denied interconnection. Refusal of a connection reaches a project that is asking for one.
The size of the queue
ERCOT is currently tracking more than 1,800 projects in the queue, representing over 474 gigawatts of electricity, the Texas Tribune reported on August 3rd. The Governor puts approximately 90% of the new power requests at data centers. Those are two different denominators, the whole queue and the new requests. Nothing in the record multiplies one by the other.
Nothing in this record counts how many permits the halt reaches, and this edition publishes no estimate dressed as a measurement.
Behind the meter
A gas compression company says it will supply one data center with 76 megawatts of behind-the-meter, baseload power capacity from approximately 40 reciprocating natural gas-fueled generation units. Deployment is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. Nothing in the record says whether that project sits in the queue the audit reads.
Being outside the queue is not the same as being outside the halt. As the Governor's words were reported, the halt is scoped by who is asking for a permit. One of the audits it waits on has a scope this record does not state.
What this edition does not establish
It does not establish that any behind-the-meter project needs, or escapes, an environmental permit. The agency publishes an Overview of air permitting requirements and options for new internal combustion engine operations. It also publishes a List of facilities typically found at sources that need New Source Review permits. Whether a particular installation needs one is a question this record does not answer, and no mechanism is asserted here.
It does not establish that any permit was refused, withdrawn or denied. What the record carries is a canceled notice and comment hearing on data center permit O4791. The agency says the hearing will be rescheduled for a later date and gives no date.
Sources for this story
- Troutman Pepper Locke, Governor Abbott Directs TCEQ to Halt All Data Center Permits Pending ERCOT/TWDB Audits
- The Texas Tribune, Gov. Greg Abbott broadens moratorium on data center approvals to include environmental permits
- CBS News Texas, Gov. Abbott pauses new data center permits until water, power audit complete
- The Texas Tribune, Data center approvals in Texas halted until audits completed, Gov. Greg Abbott says
- The Texas Tribune, Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas water agency to penalize data centers that don't report their water usage
- TCEQ, Cancellation of Notice and Comment Hearing, Vantage Data Centers TX11, LLC, O4791
- TCEQ, Air NSR Permits, Index of Common Permitted Facilities
- TCEQ, NSR Guidance for Internal Combustion Engines
- Kodiak Gas Services, Kodiak Gas Services Announces Power Supply Agreement
Claim-by-claim verification · 19 claims
The Governor directed the environmental agency to suspend action on all permits sought by data center projects until the grid operator completes its audit.
Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to suspend action on all permits sought by data center projects until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) completes its ongoing audit
The directive reaches beyond the one agency it was addressed to.
no other state agency shall move forward with regulatory approvals related to data centers until this information is acquired
As CBS quoted it, the Governor said TCEQ will issue no permits sought by data center projects until data centers complete the ERCOT and TWDB audits.
Data centers must pay their own way, protect our grid and water, and complete the ERCOT and TWDB audits. Until they do, TCEQ will issue no permits sought by data center projects.
The directive sets a date for the agency to report back on its compliance.
TCEQ must report to the Office of the Governor on its compliance with the directive by Monday, October 19, 2026.
As the Tribune reported it, the ERCOT audit covers all data centers advancing through the interconnection queue.
Abbott's letter to the PUCT and ERCOT directs them to conduct the audit on all data centers advancing through ERCOT's interconnection queue
The consequence the audit directive names is refusal of a connection to the grid.
Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid.
The grid operator counts the whole connection queue at over 474 gigawatts.
ERCOT is currently tracking more than 1,800 projects in the queue, representing over 474 gigawatts of electricity, or more than five times the grid's record for peak demand, according to ERCOT.
The audit order is dated August 3rd.
ordering ERCOT on Aug. 3 to ensure data center developers provide information
A project that fails the audit is to be refused an interconnection.
Projects that fail to complete the ERCOT audit are to be denied interconnection, according to the governor's directive.
The environmental agency is told to tie its permitting decisions to what the audits find.
must align its permitting decisions with forthcoming audit results from ERCOT and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)
The environmental agency canceled the notice and comment hearing on data center permit O4791.
Cancellation of Notice & Comment Hearing: Vantage Data Centers TX11, LLC, O4791
The agency says that canceled hearing is to be rescheduled rather than dropped, and gives no date for it.
The hearing will be rescheduled for a later date.
The agency publishes a list of facilities typically found at sources that need New Source Review permits.
List of facilities typically found at sources that need New Source Review permits.
The agency publishes air permitting guidance written for new internal combustion engine operations.
Overview of air permitting requirements and options for new internal combustion engine operations.
A gas compression company says it will supply a data center with 76 megawatts of behind-the-meter capacity.
76 megawatts of behind-the-meter, baseload power capacity
That supply is to come from a stated number of reciprocating gas engines.
approximately 40 reciprocating natural gas-fueled generation units
The company expects to start putting those engines in during the last quarter of this year.
Deployment of the power assets is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026
The Governor puts data centers at about ninety percent of the new power requests.
Approximately 90% of the new power requests are data centers, Abbott said.
The Governor ordered TCEQ to stop issuing new data center permits on Monday, September 21st, the date of the report.
Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Monday to stop issuing new permits for data centers