Texas Senate passes bill to improve grid reliability, ready state for more data centers

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The Texas Senate has unanimously passed Senate Bill 6, aimed at enhancing the state's grid reliability and digital infrastructure to accommodate the increasing demand from data centers and other power-intensive industries. This legislative move comes in response to the challenges faced during the 2021 winter storm, which exposed vulnerabilities in Texas' power grid managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). With projections indicating a significant rise in electricity demand, particularly from data centers, the bill seeks to improve outage protections, adjust transmission cost allocations, and enhance load forecasting transparency.

As major tech companies and data center developers flock to Texas, the state is poised to become a hub for digital infrastructure, with anticipated growth in electricity consumption. The bill's passage reflects a commitment from state leaders to ensure that the grid can support this economic expansion while safeguarding residential consumers from rising costs. With Texas already being the second-largest data center market in the U.S., the legislation aims to bolster the state's attractiveness for investors and ensure the reliability of its electric grid in the face of unprecedented growth.