The Public Utility Commission of Texas has adopted a final version of its data center interconnection rules, walking back several stricter provisions it had floated in March. The commission removed a proposed non-refundable interconnection fee, cut the financial security requirement in half, and gave developers more time to meet energization milestones.
The changes represent a significant softening of the initial proposal. Under the March draft, data center developers would have faced higher upfront costs and tighter deadlines, which drew pushback from industry stakeholders. The final rule eases those burdens while still maintaining some form of financial security for grid interconnection.
Because this article draws on a single source, there is no independent reporting to compare against. The Utility Dive report describes the commission's actions, but does not include statements from commissioners or stakeholders, so the rationale behind the softened rules is not fully detailed in the source.