Texas Scorecard by Hunter Burney June 8, 2026
ERCOT warns that sudden shutdowns at data centers and crypto mines could destabilize the Texas grid as summer demand surges.Several large Texas data centers and crypto facilities have failed key grid reliability tests ahead of summer peaks, according to ERCOT and recent reporting, raising concerns about potential destabilizing events on the Texas power grid.
In a power grid, supply must meet demand for electricity to prevent overcapacity or overvoltage. However, data centers are generally designed to disconnect from grids during voltage disturbances, unlike many traditional energy consumers. This prevents damage to data center equipment, but can lead to an oversupply of power to other consumers, worsening the effects of voltage disturbances.
During a recent test of routine voltage disturbance resistance, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reported that four clusters of large electricity consumers, including data centers, abruptly disconnected from the grid. According to ERCOT, each of these clusters could trigger more than 5,000 megawatts of demand tripping—roughly the load of a large city such as El Paso.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/test-failures-show-how-data-centers-could-destabilize-the-texas-power-grid/
