Texas · Permitting
The state regulatory surface for a data center in Texas spans five agencies, four active dockets, two hard 2026 deadlines, and zero consolidated source. This page is continuously maintained against the public record so you do not have to pay a consultant $1,800/hr to find out what changed this week.
ERCOT live · Normal Conditions
System load
53,596 MW
peak fcst 56,972 MW
HB_NORTH LMP
$11.61
$/MWh real-time
Fetched
0s ago
refresh 30s · tick 0
What is moving · as of April 22, 2026
Closed
April 17, 2026
PUCT 58481 comment deadline
16 TAC §25.194 draft rule on interconnection for 75 MW+ loads. Closed.
Upcoming
May 1, 2026
First phase energization
Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus (Amarillo, 5,800 acres) scheduled to energize phase one.
Upcoming
June 1, 2026
ERCOT Batch Zero PCLR window
Provisional CLR elections for Batch Zero large-load interconnection candidates.
Upcoming
July 1, 2026
PUCT 58481 final rule expected
Commission vote on 16 TAC §25.194 with curtailment, disclosure, and financial-commitment obligations for 75 MW+ loads.
Regulatory surface
No Texas agency owns the full data center permitting workflow. A 200 MW site hits all five in parallel, on different clocks, with rules that moved in the last six months.
PUCT
Interconnection rules, SB 6 implementation
Project 58481 · 16 TAC §25.194
ERCOT
Queue position, Batch Zero large-load studies
PGRR145 · NPRR1325 · PCLR
TCEQ
Air permits for backup gen and on-site gas
Standard Permit for Stationary Engines
Comptroller
Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption
Live filings
Cliff ingests these end-to-end, maps parties and deadlines, and extracts structured outcomes. Below is the short version. The full party-by-party breakdown with material facts is in the docket viewer.
PUCT Project 58481
Large Load Interconnection (16 TAC §25.194)
Discussion draft, staff Q-for-C rounds, and 200-plus party comments. Generator coalitions, coops, hyperscaler-affiliated DCCs, and Eolian on opposite sides of curtailment obligations.
Comments closed Apr 17; final vote expected Jul 1
source →TCEQ NSR (GW Ranch)
Largest permitted data center campus in the US
Pacifico Energy's 8,000-acre Pecos County campus received TCEQ air approval in February 2026. The de facto template for West Texas gas-plus-data-center co-siting.
Approved Feb 2026
source →Backup generation · air
Texas tracks the federal RICE NESHAP emergency definition. Unlike Virginia’s APG-578, ERCOT-initiated curtailment does not count as “emergency” runtime today. The de-rate consequences are material.
Model your site on the de-rate calculator.
TCEQ standard permits for stationary engines tier hour caps by engine size and fuel. ~200 hrs/yr is a reasonable minor-source default; large campuses typically need a site-specific NSR permit.
TCEQ generally tracks the federal RICE NESHAP definition. ERCOT-initiated SB 6 curtailment is not currently treated as 'emergency' for backup-gen runtime accounting.
Standard permit typical: 4 mo. Title V: 9 mo. PSD: 15 mo.
Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex (10-county area) · Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (8-county area)
Why this page exists
Trinity, ERM, and the AmLaw land-use partners who file these permits bill at $800 to $2,000 per hour and cannot publicly name clients or strategies without burning the next hyperscaler retainer. Airshed budgets are zero-sum, hyperscaler NDAs are strict, and the same firm often has to argue opposite sides of the same rule for different clients.
Cliff is a platform, not a retained advisor. Every cite on this page points to a public source. Every deadline is pulled from a docket that updated this week. Every rule-level claim has an “as of” date and a next-refresh timer, because Texas moved four times in the last six months and will move again before July.
Texas diagnostic
One parcel, a concept MW, and whatever regulatory work you've already done. We return a cited readout of your exposure across PUCT 58481, ERCOT Batch Zero, TCEQ air, and local zoning within one week.
Tex. Tax Code §151.359
Counties
Zoning, special-use permits, moratoriums
Local ordinances (Pecos, Potter, Williamson, Harris, etc.)
ERCOT Batch Zero LLIS
Large Load Interconnection Batch Study Workshop #7
April 9, 2026 workshop walked through representative PCLR elections and the PGRR145 / NPRR1325 interaction. Batch Zero candidates filing through summer.
Active through summer 2026
source →Source: TCEQ Air Permits — Standard Permits and Permits by Rule. Last verified 2026-04-13; next refresh due 2026-07-13.