ERCOT CEO Seeks Authority to Mandate Data Center Power Cuts

Pablo Vegas, the chief executive officer of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, intends to ask the Texas state legislature for new authority to mandate power reductions for data centers. The move aims to prevent blackouts by allowing the council to scale back electricity usage at these facilities more aggressively than current rules permit.

Under existing regulations, the grid must reach level two of a three-alarm power emergency before the council can request that data centers decrease their electricity demand. Vegas seeks the power to require these facilities to reduce usage during level one alerts or even before the first indicators of electricity scarcity appear.