ERCOT puts Batch Zero at about 191.8 GW and starts verification clocks
On September 11, ERCOT filed an open-meeting update in PUCT Project 59142 (Review of ERCOT’s Interconnection Processes for Large Loads) and presented at the Commission’s 9:30 a.m. Central open meeting. The deck says interconnecting transmission service providers received conditional classifications on September 3 and that Batch Zero now holds about 191.8 GW across 362 large loads: 66.4 GW / 204 projects as base load and 125.4 GW / 158 projects as studied load, with pathway breakouts that include Advancing Large Load (about 28.8 GW, 59 projects) as the largest base subcategory. About 302.2 GW / 373 projects are described as not included. Separately, Market Notice M-A090926-01 (September 9, 5:58 p.m.) said Batch Zero Verification RFIs had begun rolling out via ERCOT’s Resource Integration and Ongoing Operations (RIOO) portal; the September 11 filing says 231 RFIs were issued, responses are due September 23, 2026 (with limited extensions), and incomplete responses can exclude a load from Batch Zero. A distinct State and Community Impact RFI—about 130 questions on financial assistance, self-supply, water/cooling, community impact, and ownership—is expected the week of September 14 for roughly 461 data-center projects (214 medium-load projects totaling about 12.5 GW plus 247 Batch Zero large-load projects totaling about 168.2 GW), with a mid-October response window. Both the Eligibility Verification Report and a Community Impact Review Report are pointed at a December 10 filing ahead of a December 17 open meeting. Energization of not-yet-connected large-load data centers and crypto facilities remains paused pending verification.
Why it matters
Until this week, Batch Zero had no public megawatt or project totals—only private notices to utilities. The 191.8 GW figure and the September 23 / mid-October RFI clocks turn a opaque queue into a dated compliance race that can knock conditionally classified campuses out of the first study cohort.
Companies
- IREN
- Core Scientific
- CleanSpark
- Hut 8
- Cipher Digital
- Riot Platforms
- MARA Holdings
- TeraWulf
- Keel Infrastructure
- Bitdeer
- HIVE
- Applied Digital
- Bit Digital
Risks
- Conditional classifications remain provisional and can change through disputes, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and the verification process
- Failure to complete RFIs on time can exclude a load from Batch Zero
- No public project-level name list was attached to the ERCOT update
- Energization pause continues for not-yet-connected large-load data centers and crypto facilities