Grid operator weighs a year's grace for data center cooling equipment on ride-through rules
A revision request pending at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas concerns the grid's ride-through requirements. It would give a large computational load up to 365 days after its in-service date to comply. It applies where the cooling load can't meet the standard on the day it starts. The posting names the reason as design and manufacturing limits, including vendors still adapting chiller and variable frequency drive equipment to the applicable standards. Ride-through is the requirement that keeps a large load on the system through a voltage dip rather than dropping off all at once. The request was posted on July 21st, 2026 and is still pending, with the reliability and operations subcommittee named as its next group.
How to take part
The grid operator publishes the revision request, its comments and its stage on a public page, and the reliability and operations subcommittee that takes it next meets in public. Comments filed on it are posted beside the request.
Where
Statewide. This decision applies across Texas rather than to a named county.
Timeline
- filed
The revision request was posted
- Today
How this decision moved
One dated line per check, oldest first. A line that says nothing changed means somebody looked and it had not.
- 2026-08-30
Admitted to the record. The request is still pending, with the reliability and operations subcommittee named as its next group.
- 2026-09-01
ERCOT's proposed grace period for data-center cooling equipment remains under consideration.
- 2026-09-02
Checked and unchanged. Still pending, with no dated movement.
- 2026-09-05
The grid operator is still weighing the grace period for data center cooling equipment under the ride-through rules. Nothing is adopted.
The evidence
Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.
This Nodal Operating Guide Revision Request (NOGRR) permits a Large Computational Load (LCL) to achieve compliance with the applicable ride-through requirements within 365 days after its in-service date where the LCL's cooling load is unable to satisfy such requirements as of the in-service date due to ongoing design and manufacturing limitations, including constraints associated with vendors' continued adaptation of chiller and Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) equipment to the applicable standards.https://www.ercot.com/mktrules/issues/NOGRR289 Primary source, official · ercot.com
Extension for LCL Cooling Load Ride-Through Compliancehttps://www.ercot.com/mktrules/issues/NOGRR289 Primary source, official · ercot.com
Questions about this decision
Answered from the record itself. Every answer is assembled from stored fields, so an answer the record has no basis for is left out rather than guessed.
What is this decision?
A revision request pending at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas concerns the grid's ride-through requirements. It would give a large computational load up to 365 days after its in-service date to comply. It applies where the cooling load can't meet the standard on the day it starts. The posting names the reason as design and manufacturing limits, including vendors still adapting chiller and variable frequency drive equipment to the applicable standards. Ride-through is the requirement that keeps a large load on the system through a voltage dip rather than dropping off all at once. The request was posted on July 21st, 2026 and is still pending, with the reliability and operations subcommittee named as its next group.
Who decides it?
Electric Reliability Council of Texas decides. The record names the deciding body for every entry it carries.
Can the public take part?
The grid operator publishes the revision request, its comments and its stage on a public page, and the reliability and operations subcommittee that takes it next meets in public. Comments filed on it are posted beside the request.
Where in Texas does it apply?
It applies statewide.
Has it been decided?
It is pending. No final decision is on the record.
What happens next?
No future date is on the record. The last dated step on it was filed on July 21st.
When did it start?
The earliest date on its record is July 21st, 2026.
What kind of decision is it?
It is filed under power and the grid.
What sources back it?
One source backs it. It is primary.
Is it on the ERCOT grid?
Yes. It sits inside the ERCOT interconnection.
When was it last checked?
Every fact on it was last verified against its source on September 5th, 2026.
Cite this
Texas AI Docket, Grid operator weighs a year's grace for data center cooling equipment on ride-through rules. Tracked since July 21st, 2026. Last verified September 5th, 2026. https://texasaidocket.com/item/tx-2026-0114/. Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. The same entry is in the docket JSON as item tx-2026-0114.
Beat
Filed under Power and the grid, with every other decision on that beat.