Committee hears extensive testimony on SB6 over large loads, transmission costs and emergency load-shedding

The Senate Business & Commerce Committee spent the hearing on a detailed briefing and invited testimony about Senate Bill 6, a measure that would change how large electricity consumers are treated in planning, cost allocation and emergency response.

Senator Sharon King, the bill’s author, told the committee the legislation aims to give regulators and utilities better data and tools to manage “very large” new electricity loads — primarily large data centers, AI computing facilities and heavy manufacturing — so they do not create reliability or cost-shifting risks for retail customers. “We want measures to protect grid reliability,” King said in the bill layout, and the bill sets standards for interconnection, a minimum transmission charge for loads served by on-site generation, and options to compensate large customers that volunteer to go offline before forced shedding.

Why the bill matters

Committee members and witnesses said grid planning faces an abrupt increase in projected load. Public Utility Commission Chairman Thomas Gleason said the PUC received 72 applications to the Texas Energy Fund (TEF) and that 17 are in active due diligence, representing about 8,900 megawatts of new generation. He also said one developer (Engie) withdrew for reasons related to timetable and component availability and that staff will consider backfilling that capacity at a forthcoming open meeting. Gleason and ERCOT officials said strong timelines and supply-chain uncertainty are testing the ability to deliver dispatchable generation quickly.

Gleason and ERCOT highlighted two separate but linked matters: TEF project selection and proposals to upgrade transmission to “extra-high voltage” (EHV). ERCOT’s regional…