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As previously reported the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) on July 9, 2026 approved ERCOT’s proposed Nodal Operating Guide Revision Request (NOGRR) that among other things addressed the large electric loads (LELs) and related ride through requirements.

The Commission approved the NOGRR’s without modification that ignored comments filed in the matter including the concerns highlighted below.

Data Center Coalition (DCC) Comments – “DCC members are large retail electric customers that, in ERCOT, generally receive service from Retail Electric Providers (REPs) and take delivery from Transmission and Distribution Utilities (TDU) under tariffs approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (the Commission).

“ERCOT lacks statutory authority under the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) to impose the binding and ongoing operational requirements contained in NOGRR282 directly on retail customers – a category of entity that the Legislature deliberately excluded from ERCOT’ s authority. While it is undoubtedly ERCOT’s duty to “ensure the reliability and adequacy of the regional electrical network,” ERCOT’ s authority to achieve that mission remains bounded by the limits established by PURA. Approving NOGRR282 as currently drafted would exceed the authority the Legislature vested in ERCOT and would expose its requirements to legal challenge, potentially delaying the very reliability improvements ERCOT seeks.”

“For these reasons, DCC respectfully urges the Commission to decline to approve NOGRR282 as currently drafted and instead develop ride-through standards through a Commission rulemaking pursuant to PURA § 14.002. Standards adopted through a Commission rulemaking should be implemented through revisions to each TDU’s retail delivery tariff, which is the established legal framework through which technical service conditions are imposed on retail customers. This path would allow the Commission to achieve ERCOT’ s reliability objectives on a durable and legally sound basis, and DCC would be committed to engaging in this rulemaking process.”

Texas Industrial Energy Consumers (TIEC) – “TIEC has concerns about the novel and legally controversial approach of attempting to impose the ERCOT protocols on pure retail customers.  TIEC is also concerned about feasibility, cost, and operational impacts for affected loads.  Proceeding with the proposed approach is likely to result in legal challenges and may further postpone the resolution of the reliability issues identified by ERCOT.”

“Additionally, it is concerning that ERCOT does not appear to have considered alternative solutions in this context.  A similar issue was previously discussed and rejected in relation to NPRR1191.  Rather than rehashing the same issue, TIEC encourages ERCOT to undertake a more comprehensive assessment of potential solutions and to foster collaborative dialogue with stakeholders to ensure all viable options are considered.  TIEC is committed to working with ERCOT on an agreeable solution that avoids ERCOT attempting to invoke this illegal authority.  TIEC believes a better solution would be to codify the current process where VRT capabilities are studied as part of the interconnection process, and TIEC would be open to having utilities include VRT standards in their tariffs.  However, a direct compliance requirement from ERCOT on pure loads is problematic.”

“As TIEC has raised numerous times, including at the January TAC meeting, PURA provides no specific legal authority to adopt requirements for pure retail customers, who are not utilities or wholesale market participants and are not subject to PUC or ERCOT regulation.  In fact, when the Legislature authorized the Commission to certify an independent organization to establish and enforce reliability and accountability procedures (i.e., ERCOT), the Legislature explicitly and exhaustively listed the entities that were subject to the ERCOT protocols and other binding documents in PURA § 39.151(j).”