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Power and the grid
A data center is only worth what it can plug in. Every month the power doesn’t show up is a month a borrower pays interest on an empty building.
| Reading | Value | Status | What it means | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big power hookup requests · Texas (ERCOT) | 498 GW | watch | 498 GW across 688 requests, up from 474 GW in June. Roughly 90% of it is data centers. | Jul 29 | Baxtel: Texas grid audit pauses new data center approvals across ERCOT |
| Requests that look ready · Texas (ERCOT) | 65 GW | watch | Only 150 requests (65 GW) passed the first screen for base-load service. 294 GW didn't even have a qualifying study. Most of the queue is a wish list. | Jul 29 | Baxtel: Texas grid audit pauses new data center approvals across ERCOT |
| Actually connected · Texas (ERCOT) | 7.5 GW | watch | About 7.5 GW connected or at final approval, against a queue that was already 230 GW. That gap is the delay risk lenders are underwriting. | Dec 13 | Introl: Texas data center bubble, 220 GW in queue, 7.5 GW connected |
| Capacity price, 2028/29 · Mid-Atlantic (PJM) | 325 $/MW-day | flashing | Cleared at the $325/MW-day cap for the third auction in a row. Power is the bottleneck, and it's getting pricier. | Jul 14 | PJM Inside Lines: capacity auction procures 138,318 MW |
| Short of the reliability target · Mid-Atlantic (PJM) | 6,831 MW | flashing | The auction came up 6,831 MW short, and only 525 MW of new generation cleared. Forecast peak load rose about 2,000 MW, mostly on data centers. | Jul 14 | PJM Inside Lines: capacity auction procures 138,318 MW |
| Power plants waiting to connect · United States | 2,061 GW | calm | About 2,061 GW of generation and storage waiting, down roughly 10% in 2025. Gas requests jumped 86%. Only 13% of what applied in 2000–2020 ever got built. | Dec 31 | Berkeley Lab: Queued Up, 2026 edition |