NEWS: Texas is pressing pause on data center approvals.

Hold your horses: New Texas data center projects can’t receive approval until the state PUC and ERCOT run “a comprehensive verification and audit,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. State officials must seek certain details from developers, including 1) info on tax incentives they’re receiving 2) plans for on-site generation and 3) specifics on water usage. It’s unclear how long this audit will take, but ERCOT said it’s pausing its new “batch zero” review process.

The background: ERCOT is considering roughly 474 GW of interconnection requests—nearly all from data centers. That’s over 5X ERCOT’s record peak demand. Meanwhile, Texans’ frustration with data centers is mounting. 56% of residents are opposed to data centers being built in their communities, according to a June poll.