Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter on June 10 to the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT directing them to require data centers—including Bitcoin miners—to fully fund the electric infrastructure built to serve them. The move effectively ends a policy that let ratepayers subsidize the industry, which the state has courted for years with cheap electricity and tax breaks. Abbott's directive could reshape the economics of crypto mining in one of the country's biggest hubs.
Why Abbott moved now
Texas has roughly 6.5 gigawatts of data center capacity under construction, about a fifth of the national pipeline. ERCOT's preliminary forecast estimates peak demand could hit 367,790 megawatts by 2032—more than quadrupling the 2023 record. Large-load interconnection requests rose 270% in 2025, with 73% of that demand coming from data centers. The state's sales tax exemption for data center equipment is projected to cost $3.2 billion in forgone revenue over two years. Abbott wants that reviewed when the Legislature convenes in 2027.
What miners will pay for now
New projects must shoulder upfront costs for substations, transmission upgrades, and interconnection work that used to be spread across ratepayers. That makes behind-the-meter generation and co-located power much more appealing. Fermi America's Project Matador near Amarillo is already funding its own private power grid—bringing new generation online as it draws from it. Existing operators with signed interconnection agreements are less affected in the near term, but new builds and major expansions will feel the heaviest effects.
Industry reaction so far
Reaction to the directive has been better than expected. Clear rules provide certainty for developers and lenders, even if the cost structure changes. Abbott also referenced Senate Bill 6, a 2025 law requiring large loads to bring backup power and curtail during grid emergencies, as a sign the state had already started down this path. The directive also calls for water-efficient cooling and mandatory reporting on power and water use—new compliance burdens for miners.
What happens next
The Public Utility Commission and ERCOT now have to craft rules implementing Abbott's order. The Legislature could shrink or kill the sales tax exemption in 2027. For Bitcoin miners, the window of ultra-cheap Texas power is closing. Those who haven't locked in interconnection agreements or built their own generation face a much more expensive landscape.
