Texas has become the first major U.S. data-center hub to freeze new grid connections, after Governor Greg Abbott ordered the state's grid operator ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission to audit every request in the queue. Electricity requests from data centers in Texas jumped from 48 gigawatts in 2023 to over 474 gigawatts today — more than five times the state's peak demand.
Regulators call the phenomenon "ghost demand": developers file speculative interconnection requests at multiple utilities to secure a place in line, often without a confirmed customer or funding behind the project. When utilities impose financial guardrails like upfront deposits, the numbers shrink fast — Exelon cut its high-probability data-center demand by 40% to 11 gigawatts after tightening collateral rules, and AEP Ohio's pipeline fell by more than half after Ohio repriced its study fees.
Across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and South, total data-center electricity requests now exceed 700 gigawatts, over ten times actual U.S. data-center consumption. Pennsylvania issued a similar freeze in August, as states scramble to tell real AI-driven demand apart from inflated projections before committing billions to new grid infrastructure.