ERCOT starts Batch Zero verification RFIs; 10 business-day clock
ERCOT Market Notice M-A090926-01, sent September 9, 2026 at 5:58 p.m., said ERCOT has begun issuing Batch Zero Verification Requests for Information to a majority of Interconnecting Large Load Entities whose large loads were conditionally included in Batch Zero, implementing Governor Greg Abbott’s August 3 directive that the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT verify and audit data-center projects before they advance. ERCOT will keep sending RFIs through month-end for other Batch Zero and related paths. Each Interconnecting Transmission Service Provider gets a separate RFI per large load via ERCOT’s Resource Integration and Ongoing Operations (RIOO) portal; the TSP, the interconnecting large-load entity, and any Interconnecting Distribution Service Provider each answer their questions. Complete responses—including supporting documents and notarized attestations—are due no later than 10 business days after RFI issuance, with at most a 5-business-day extension by email to LargeLoadVerification@ercot.com. Successful verification is a condition for Batch Zero inclusion; failure to respond completely on time results in exclusion. ERCOT will host a RIOO training Webex on Friday, September 11, and will issue a separate community-impact RFI later with its own Market Notice. Questions and a user guide are posted on ERCOT’s Large Load Integration webpage.
Why it matters
Conditional Batch Zero classification is no longer the end of the near-term Texas paperwork; covered campuses that claimed Base Load or Studied Load now face a short cure window and an exclusion risk if verification fails.
Companies
- Core Scientific
- CleanSpark
- IREN
- Hut 8
- Cipher Digital
- Riot Platforms
- TeraWulf
- Bitdeer
- Keel Infrastructure
Risks
- Company-by-company RFI receipt dates are not public in the Market Notice; the 10-business-day clock runs from each issuance.
- Community-impact RFIs are still forthcoming and add another documentation workstream.
- Exclusion from Batch Zero for non-response or failed verification would delay interconnection advancement.
- Covered-name list above is the newsletter’s Texas campus cohort, not an ERCOT roster of RFI recipients.