ERCOT publishes large load interconnection requests by county and status

Load additions in most of the United States are visible only through utility filings and distribution planning. In ERCOT, the growth of very large single-site loads has pushed the grid operator to track and publish large load interconnection activity as a distinct category.

The disclosure is imperfect as a forecast. A request is not a commitment, and the gap between announced and energised load in this class is wide. It is nonetheless the only systematic public record of where multi-hundred-megawatt loads are seeking service in the largest single-state market.

For a planner, the signal is spatial rather than aggregate. Concentration in specific zones determines whether the constraint is generation, transmission, or transformer procurement.

For a developer of generation, the same data indicates where a load-side counterparty may be willing to contract at terms that support financing.

For a lawyer, the open question is what obligations attach to a large load at the point of curtailment, and whether the applicable protocols treat that load as interruptible in fact as well as in contract.

What to watch: any protocol revision that formalises the queue and attaches deposits or milestones to a large load request.