Graded Extensive and tightening. 20 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 4 November 2026.
The governor's August 3, 2026 audit order postponed ERCOT's Batch Zero, and SB 6 (June 20, 2025) already imposes fees, curtailment duties and per-MW security.
The PUCT's September 18, 2026 rule sets a $100,000 fee and $50,000 per MW security for 75 MW loads; no separate rate class or binding cost tariff exists.
San Marcos banned data centers in all zoning districts on June 16, 2026, but counties have been told they lack moratorium power and the main markets are open.
The 2013 sales tax exemption remains in force and uncapped; the July 27, 2026 Senate hearing produced pressure but no change.
TCEQ has issued no data center permits since the September 21, 2026 order, confirmed on October 19, 2026, and the water survey is mandatory with penalties.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Texas has moved from the least regulated large-load market in the country to one of the most conditioned. Senate Bill 6 (2025) and the PUCT rules that implement it set a 75 MW regime of study fees, $50,000 per MW security, mandatory emergency curtailment and regulator review of co-location with existing plants. Since June 2026 the governor has ordered regulators to make data centers pay their full grid costs, audit every project in the ERCOT queue, enforce water reporting and, from 21 September 2026, stop issuing environmental permits to data centers statewide, including self-powered sites. On 24 September the attorney general opened an investigation into hundreds of data center developments that had not answered the state water survey. On 19 October TCEQ confirmed to the governor that the permit pause covers construction and infrastructure directly supporting data centers, suspended permits that watchdogs found had slipped through, and on 21 October took its online filing system offline to screen applications. The sales tax exemption is still in force but senators of both parties and the governor want it ended, and counties have been told they lack power to impose moratoria while San Marcos has banned data centers by zoning.
Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott on 3 November 2026 (about 56 to 42 percent in unofficial returns, called by the Associated Press) and takes office in January 2027; she has said she would impose a moratorium on new data centers by executive order until the Legislature sets rules, bar non-disclosure agreements on water and energy use, let local officials reject projects and end the sales tax exemption. Democrats also won the lieutenant governor and attorney general races and, on early returns, a majority of the Texas House with seven seats uncalled, while Republicans keep the Senate 20 to 11, so a statutory moratorium or exemption repeal in the session that opens in January 2027 needs Senate votes, and the governor's executive orders and appointments to the PUCT and TCEQ are the levers she controls alone. Abbott's TCEQ permit halt stays in place through the transition with no stated end date, and the ERCOT and PUCT audit reports are still due on or before 10 December 2026 for the commission's 17 December meeting, after which Batch Zero studies and permitting may resume. The PUCT's curtailment and demand management rule remains targeted for November 2026 and its 5 October suit against the attorney general over survey locations is pending in Travis County. San Antonio's council approval requirement for every new data center, adopted 29 October 2026, stands.
Results as called on 4 November 2026. Positions are the winners' own statements; a platform is not a rule and does not change the grade.
Yes. Texas has a statewide pause in force as of 4 November 2026: the governor's halt on TCEQ permits, pending audits due in December.
Tightening. Texas is graded Extensive, which means a statewide halt on permits or connections, or binding rules that stop most new projects. Governor has halted data center permits pending December 2026 audits. The outlook above says what is pending.
Texas sits in MISO and SPP and ERCOT. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. Texas's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 4 November 2026.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Texas scores grid connection 5, power rates 3, siting and land use 2, tax treatment 1, permits and water 5, a mean of 3.2. The most regulated line is permits and water: TCEQ has issued no data center permits since the September 21, 2026 order, confirmed on October 19, 2026, and the water survey is mandatory with penalties.
Gina Hinojosa (D) won the governor's race, flipping the office. Hinojosa said in July 2026 she was calling on the governor to issue a moratorium on any new data centers by emergency executive order until the Legislature sets rules, and campaigned on empowering local officials to negotiate with developers or reject projects, barring non-disclosure agreements that conceal water and energy use, shielding consumers from data center-driven utility increases and ending the sales tax exemption. Legislature: Democratic House, Republican Senate (divided), control changed. The arrow is tightening: Governor-elect campaigned on a data center moratorium and repeal of the sales tax exemption; Democrats took the House, Republicans hold the Senate.
20 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
ERCOT posted the user guide and attestation form on 14 September 2026 and the questions on 18 September. Developers of data centers of 25 MW or more must respond by 12 October 2026; the Water Development Board's first 30-day update to the governor is due about 14 October, and ERCOT and the PUCT expect to publish the audit report on or before 10 December 2026. As of 5 October the TCEQ permit halt had no stated end date and no limit by permit type.
Source: willkie.comPublic Citizen and FracTracker identified at least six stormwater construction permits for data center sites approved after the 21 September 2026 directive, plus three major source air permit notices including Nexus Data Centers in Hill County, which entered public comment. TCEQ's interim executive director told the governor on 19 October 2026 that the agency has paused permits for construction or infrastructure directly supporting data centers, TCEQ said the stormwater permits were suspended, and the governor's office said no permits had been approved. Residents reported construction continuing at the Hill County site.
Source: texastribune.orgOn 21 October 2026 TCEQ temporarily disabled STEERS, the electronic filing system through which many air and water permits are filed and some are approved automatically, so that staff can screen paper applications for data center links. It also suspended the data center permits the watchdog groups had flagged that week. No end date was given.
Source: texastribune.orgOn 29 October 2026 the San Antonio City Council voted 9-2 to require a specific use authorization approved by council before any data center can be built, limiting data centers to commercial or industrial zones. Alternatives with 1,000-foot or 350-foot separation requirements each failed 6-5. Council also unanimously adopted review and setback rules for data centers near the UNESCO World Heritage missions.
Source: tpr.orgOn 5 October 2026 the Public Utility Commission sued the attorney general's office in Travis County to overturn open records rulings requiring release of the county and regional water planning area of each facility that answered its 2025 data center and crypto-mining water and energy survey, which went to 377 facilities. The PUCT cites the Texas Homeland Security Act; the survey is separate from the mandatory Water Development Board survey.
Source: texastribune.orgA 21 September 2026 letter directs the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue no permits sought by data center projects statewide, including off-grid and behind-the-meter sites and their dedicated power plants, until the ERCOT and water audits finish (expected mid-December 2026). TCEQ must report compliance by 19 October 2026; lawyers note the order's effect on standard permits and permits-by-rule is unclear and its legal basis is questioned.
Source: bracewell.comFinal rule issued 18 September 2026 for loads of 75 MW or more: a flat $100,000 fee plus size-tiered study charges, and security of $50,000 per MW of requested peak demand (under the final agreement, the greater of that or allocated transmission upgrade costs). Withdrawing after capacity is allocated forfeits 20% of the related security; the effective date was not stated in the source.
Source: whitecase.comOn 14 September 2026 the governor directed the Texas Water Development Board to compel data centers to answer its water-use survey and to work with ERCOT on a joint audit. Failing to complete the survey is an offense and makes a facility ineligible for TCEQ water permits, amendments or renewals.
Source: bracewell.comThe PUCT is still writing the SB 6 rules on emergency curtailment of transmission-connected large loads and a voluntary demand management service. ERCOT's September 2026 status report lists the rulemaking as in progress with a November 2026 target.
Source: ercot.comOn 24 September 2026 the attorney general announced an investigation into hundreds of data center developments that did not answer the Texas Water Development Board's water-use survey (responses for 2025 were due on 1 March 2026). The first phase covers non-compliant projects in 18 counties.
Source: willkie.comOn 21 September 2026 environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit arguing that a data center near San Antonio is seeking approval for 405 MW of diesel generators through the lighter 'minor source' air permit process. The same day Public Citizen said it doubted TCEQ can lawfully pause permitting without action by the Legislature.
Source: san.comOn 3 August 2026 the governor told the PUCT and ERCOT to audit all data centers in the interconnection queue for grid, water and consumer-cost effects. ERCOT postponed the next phase of Batch Zero and expects to finish the audit on or around 10 December 2026.
Source: whitecase.comOn 24 July 2026 the PUCT approved a 260 MW data center co-locating with an existing 265.5 MW wind farm, on condition that it disconnects fully within 30 minutes of an ERCOT emergency instruction and stays out of paid demand response and ancillary services. Under SB 6, any new load of 75 MW or more that co-locates with a plant already on the grid needs an ERCOT study and PUCT approval.
Source: whitecase.comThe exemption (enacted 2013, widened 2015) remains in force, but the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on 27 July 2026 at which members of both parties questioned whether its benefits were oversold and several senators indicated support for repeal. Foregone state revenue is estimated at about $3.3 billion, and the Comptroller testified that 6 of 20 recently audited data centers were not meeting their job requirements.
Source: hklaw.comApproved by the PUCT on 18 June 2026. Qualifying loads of 75 MW or more are studied together and given a firm allocation that can be below their request, with more available only as a dispatchable controllable load; ERCOT was tracking more than 438,000 MW of large load requests, nearly 89% from data centers. Batch 1 applications are expected in summer 2027.
Source: ercot.comA campus with generation and load behind one grid connection can be studied with a fixed limit on grid withdrawals. If it exceeds the limit, the operator must cut back within one minute or ERCOT may limit or suspend the arrangement.
Source: willkie.comThe city council voted 4-3 on 16 June 2026, on second reading of a development code ordinance, to prohibit data centers in all zoning districts. In February 2026 the council had voted 5-2 to deny a service agreement for the proposed Mayberry data center over water concerns.
Source: news4sanantonio.comA 10 June 2026 letter directs the PUCT to make data centers pay in full for the electric infrastructure built to serve them, required a joint PUCT and ERCOT memo by 17 July 2026, and told the PUCT to begin action on residential transmission costs by 31 July 2026. The governor also pledged to work with the Legislature to phase out tax incentives and require water-efficient cooling, usage reporting, setbacks and noise limits.
Source: gov.texas.govCommissioners voted 3-2 on 10 February 2026 against a six-month pause on new industrial development, after Sen. Paul Bettencourt wrote to the attorney general arguing that Texas counties have no authority to impose development moratoria. The county has at least four proposed data centers, including Sailfish Development's Comanche Circle plan of up to 5 GW on about 2,600 acres near Tolar.
Source: texastribune.orgEffective 20 June 2025. Sets a regime for loads of 75 MW or more in ERCOT: interconnection standards and fees, disclosure of duplicate requests and backup generation, emergency curtailment duties, and PUCT review of co-location with existing power plants. The PUCT has adopted the net metering rule (Project 58479).
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