Governor Greg Abbott’s September 21, 2026 directive to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) expanded an existing pause into a de facto statewide moratorium by halting air and water permits for data center projects until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) completes its audit of large-load interconnection requests. This builds on the August 3 order that froze new grid connections amid over 400 GW of queued demand—more than five times Texas peak load—driven by artificial intelligence and large language model training facilities straining electricity infrastructure and water resources. Local county-level reviews and political pressure ahead of November elections amplified the shift, with Abbott also signaling plans to end tax incentives in the 2027 legislative session. Key upcoming milestones include a TCEQ compliance update by October 19 and the ERCOT audit report targeted for December 10.