Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Galaxy Digital, Compass Datacenters and Montera Infrastructure have agreed to comply with new state standards and regulatory requirements for data center construction. The guidance is being applied to data center projects across Texas and is intended to keep expansion from adding costs for residents or disrupting grid reliability, water supplies and community quality of life. Under the new rules, operators must pay for their own power infrastructure rather than shifting construction and operating costs onto Texas households and small businesses. They are also required to recycle their own water use, take steps to reduce overall electricity costs, limit noise, lighting and traffic impacts on nearby residential areas, and reduce reliance on government subsidies and taxpayer funding so projects can stand on their own financially. The Public Utility Commission of Texas, or PUCT, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, will review projects. Companies must disclose ownership structures, subsidy details, power demand forecasts, plans for self-built generation, water use arrangements and measures to mitigate community impact.

Bernstein analysts said Texas' decision to pause approvals for data center projects seeking to connect to the state grid is unlikely to materially hurt most Bitcoin mining companies operating in the state. According to the firm, many Texas mining sites have already secured approved power capacity contracts, which shields existing operators from the immediate effect of the review. The move follows an order from Texas Governor Greg Abbott for the Public Utility Commission of Texas, or PUCT, and grid operator ERCOT to review all pending data center grid interconnection applications in response to power system strain and public pushback tied to rapid data center expansion. Bernstein said the review is likely to curb speculative projects while raising the value of sites with a development track record and approved power resources. The analysts added that miners with long construction cycles, self-built infrastructure, and local operating experience could benefit, while expansion plans at Cipher Mining, Core Scientific, and CleanSpark may face approval pressure. IREN and Riot Platforms, by contrast, may hold a stronger competitive position because they already have ERCOT-approved power capacity.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and grid operator ERCOT to audit all data center projects currently in the state’s interconnection queue. ERCOT then paused its “Batch Zero” large-load approval process, which had been scheduled to release results this month. Data center applications now account for about 90% of ERCOT’s 474 GW interconnection queue, according to the report cited by ChainCatcher. In a client note published Tuesday, Bernstein analysts said the review is likely to curb speculative development and tighten incremental power capacity supply, increasing the scarcity value of already approved capacity. The firm said that dynamic could favor existing bitcoin miners and AI operators with secured access to power. Bernstein highlighted Cipher Digital, CleanSpark and Core Scientific as more exposed because their near-term expansion plans rely on Texas grid access, while Terawulf was described as more resilient due to power assets spread across Kentucky, Maryland and New York. Riot Platforms and IREN, which already hold large approved operating assets in ERCOT, were identified as potential beneficiaries.