The Texas Public Utility Commission filed a proposed rule change that would establish interconnection standards for large load customers and support business development while maintaining system reliability.
The rule would require large load customers to execute an intermediate agreement that makes certain disclosures before their inclusion in an interconnection study and to post $50,000/MW in financial security. No later than 30 days after the study, the customers would have to execute an interconnection agreement that updates their disclosures and pay a nonrefundable $50,000/MW interconnection fee (58481).
Staff originally recommended $100,000/MW fees, but the commissioners agreed during their March 12 open meeting to cut them in half. PUC Chair Thomas Gleeson said while he supported staff’s attempt to end the planning restudy cycle caused by speculative large load projects with the fees, they could “deter otherwise viable development.”
“The $100,000/MW threshold may unintentionally create a barrier to market entry for all but the largest hyperscalers in the world, even if these smaller companies have viable, tangible projects under development,” he said in a memo filed before the meeting.
The rule would set consequences should a large load customer withdraw all or a portion of requested peak demand or contracted peak demand and for failing to reach schedule milestones in their phased energization. It would also establish a refund of financial security when a large load energizes.
Market participants and other stakeholders can file comments until April 17.
The commissioners and staff also discussed a proposed rule for net metering arrangements involving a large load co-located with an existing generation resource. The proposal would establish study criteria, set procedural steps for ERCOT and the PUC to follow, and identify a non-exhaustive list of conditions the commission can impose (58479).
The proposal will be brought up for consideration at the PUC’s next open meeting March 26.
ERCOT Files Batch 0 Revisions
ERCOT staff told the PUC they are responding to stakeholder comments on their proposed changes to the large load interconnection process top incorporating the batch, or cluster, studies (59142).
Jeff Billo, ERCOT vice president of interconnection and grid analysis, told the PUC that staff will file comments to a protocol change (NPRR1325) and a Planning Guide revision (PGRR145) that would set up the transitional Batch 0 process. The PGRR would establish the criteria to determine which large load interconnection requests already in progress will be included in the first batch study, while the NPRR lays out how the study would be performed and the transmission plan compiled.
Staff held a fourth workshop on the batch process March 10, and a fifth is scheduled for March 24. ERCOT has also launched a follow-up stakeholder survey to gather additional input.
“We are continuing to engage with stakeholders,” Billo said.
He said staff hope to file additional revision requests early in April that target the roles of bring your own generation and controllable load resources in the batch studies. That would allow them to be brought before the ERCOT Board of Directors in June along with the Batch 0 revisions.
Caldwell Load Joins Texas Grid
ERCOT successfully transitioned the city of Caldwell’s municipal utility from MISO to its system on March 12. The PUC approved the move in 2025 (57517).
The city will continue to serve its residential, business and industrial customers. The Lower Colorado River Authority is responsible for the transmission system that connects Caldwell to the ERCOT grid.
Caldwell, located about 80 miles northeast of Austin, adds about 14 MW of load to the system.
“This transition reflects strong collaboration between the city of Caldwell, the [PUC] and ERCOT to ensure a smooth integration into the ERCOT system,” CEO Pablo Vegas said in a statement.
Oncor Project Approved
The PUC approved Oncor’s $118.8 million Rockhound Switch-Connell Switch project — a 345-kV double-circuit transmission line less than 20 miles long — and related substation work outside Midland’s city limits (58519).
Oncor expects to complete construction and energize the facilities by August 2027. The project was approved by ERCOT’s board in December.
In other actions, the commission:
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- clarified its final order in El Paso Electric’s rate case, finding that distributed generation customers whose interconnection applications were accepted after a 2017 order will be subject to the new rate approved by the PUC (57568). (See “PUC Rejects EPE Cost Recovery for Newman,” ERCOT Promises More Details on Batch Study Process.)
- assessed $578,916 in penalties, payable to the PUC, for violations of failing to submit required emergency operations plans and other violations in 11 separate dockets (58883, 58954, 58995, 59005, 59017, 59030, 59060, 59065, 59110, 59127 and 59301).
