The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a novel arrangement Thursday that allows a data center to pull power directly from an existing wind farm, creating a potential road map for other projects.
Commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of a setup that one Texas regulator called the “first of its kind” for the state’s main electric grid.
The decision could ripple through the power sector as companies jockey to secure the supplies needed to run a wave of proposed data centers. Developers in Texas and across the country are increasingly looking to plug into existing power generators to get projects online as soon as possible.
Texas regulators indicated Thursday that electric service to a proposed data center from an existing wind farm could be interrupted with notice of an hour or less in an emergency. Commissioner Courtney Hjaltman of the PUC said Texas will need to track arrangements tied to existing generation to see what effects there could on the state’s main electric grid.
