Texas law SB6, signed into law by Governor Abbott, now allows grid operators to disconnect data centers during electrical crises, with a 24-hour advance notice. Its goal is to minimize risks to grid reliability and avoid scenarios like the 2021 Winter Storm Uri.
The law mandates curtailment measures for large power consumers connected to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid and includes a voluntary demand management program for loads of 75 MW or more, allowing consumption reduction or switching to backup generators.
ERCOT forecasts exponential growth in data centers and large loads on its grid by 2030, and data centers could account for up to 50% of ERCOT’s emergency response capacity by that time. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects global data center energy demand will nearly double to ~945 TWh by 2030—surpassing the entire electricity consumption of Japan today.