Texas Rules a Wind-Paired Data Center Must Drop Off the Grid in 30 Minutes, All of It

The first test of how Texas will treat data centers that sit behind an existing power plant has ended with a firm answer: in a grid emergency, the load goes, regardless of how much the paired generator produces. On July 24 the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a net metering arrangement between the Goodnight wind farm in Armstrong County and a proposed AI data center, and agreed with ERCOT that the two data centers behind the wind farm's single interconnection must together be able to curtail 525.5 MW within 30 minutes.

The order in Docket No. 59220 is the first decided under the co-location provisions of Senate Bill 6, and it sets the terms for every developer hoping to place compute behind existing Texas generation. According to a White & Case analysis of the case, FGE Goodnight I and Crusoe Energy Systems applied on January 9 for approval to net meter Goodnight Wind, an existing 265.5 MW wind facility, with Crusoe Load Two, a proposed 260 MW AI data center to be developed with Google.

An earlier PUCT order in April had already imposed a 265.5 MW, 30-minute curtailment obligation on the adjacent 265 MW Crusoe Load One. The commission also dismissed Crusoe's argument that 30-minute shutdowns can damage server clusters and cause data loss. The order largely applies the standard conditions the commission adopted for co-location in its SB 6 rulemaking, Project No. 58479. The SB 6 framework also carries a financial safeguard: net metering parties are liable if co-location causes a shared transmission asset to carry at least 25 percent less power than expected, so that retail customers do not pay for stranded lines.

White & Case suggests some developers may instead look to the Batch Zero study process ERCOT launched in June, including a withdrawal-limited private use network model that caps net grid draw at the interconnection point.