ERCOT issues Batch Zero conditional classifications to interconnecting utilities
On September 3 at 3:55 p.m., the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT, the grid operator for most of Texas) sent Market Notice M-A080326-04 stating that it has notified each Interconnecting Distribution Service Provider and Transmission Service Provider of ERCOT’s provisional classification of the Large Loads those utilities submitted for inclusion in Batch Zero. Batch Zero is the first cohort under ERCOT’s system-wide process for qualified projects of at least 75 megawatts that studies multiple large-load requests together. The notice says the information shows whether each Large Load has been conditionally included in Batch Zero subject to one or more conditions—such as the Interconnecting Large Load Entity (the developer or load customer) passing verification, curing deficiencies in dynamic model data, or the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT, the state utility regulator) granting ERCOT a good-cause exception so a load can qualify despite missing an eligibility requirement at submission. Failure to satisfy an applicable condition may disqualify the load from Batch Zero. Loads submitted as base load that ERCOT conditionally classified as studied load may use the dispute and reconciliation process in Planning Guide Section 9.3.1(2)(a); utilities must notify the load entity within two business days, and Alternative Dispute Resolution under Protocol Section 20.4 remains available for exclusions. ERCOT says it will not seek a good-cause exception for every load that requested one, and that some loads submitted as already energized that do not qualify under that path may get fourteen business days to submit materials under a different eligibility subparagraph, with ERCOT seeking a separate PUCT exception—otherwise those loads will not interconnect until a future study batch. The notice does not publish a public project list, megawatt totals, or named campus owners, and it does not authorize energization.
Why it matters
Conditional classification was the missing gate after Market Notice M-A080326-03 delayed the August 31 target. It starts dispute clocks and keeps verification and community-impact work on the December 10 report track, but it is not final Batch Zero membership and does not lift the pause on energizing large computational loads.
Companies
- Hut 8
- Core Scientific
- Cipher Digital
- Bitdeer
- Riot
- MARA
- CleanSpark
- TeraWulf
- Applied Digital
- Keel Infrastructure
Risks
- ERCOT did not publish which projects or how many megawatts were conditionally included, excluded, or reclassified.
- Conditional inclusion can still be lost if verification, dynamic-model cures, or needed good-cause exceptions fail.
- Energization approvals for large data-center and crypto loads remain subject to the separate verification and audit track tied to the August 3 governor directive; this notice alone does not clear energization.
- Dispute and fourteen-business-day cure clocks create near-term process risk for loads that disagree with classification or eligibility path.