DataBank CEO says Texas grid pause won't alter its buildout

DataBank will keep building in Texas despite Governor Greg Abbott's pause on new grid connections for large power users, chief executive Raul Martynek said.

According to Data Center Dynamics, Abbott has paused new grid connections for large-load users such as data centers while an audit of applications is carried out. Developers that do not plan to pay their own way on power will likely be denied a connection, and new data centers will also have to comply with rules on water usage. Connection requests totaling 470GW sit in the queue at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT.

DataBank has 1.3GW of data center capacity either installed or under construction, 40 percent of it in Texas. That is roughly 520MW. The company is adding a fourth building at its Red Oak campus south of Dallas that will deliver 60MW.

For allocators, the audit places a discretionary test between an interconnection request and a live connection, meaning Texas capacity still awaiting ERCOT approval may need a later energization date or a self-funded power arrangement in a base case.

Martynek said the scrutiny serves a purpose. "AI has caused a huge amount of speculation, and there are zero barriers to entry if someone wants to buy a piece of land in a remote location and put in an interconnection request," he said. "I understand this is a legitimate concern for a regulator, and this process will allow them to separate wheat from the chaff."

Martynek said he does not favor a full data center moratorium of the kind seen in New York. New York is among the states with a statewide ban, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported in its count of 13 state-level moratorium attempts in 2026. How long Abbott's audit runs is the open variable for any Texas project that has not yet reached a connection; ERCOT's queue holds 470GW of requests.