Home › ERCOT Queue Brief › October 2026

What changed in the ERCOT generation interconnection queue this month, county by county: new requests, withdrawals, stage changes, the crowded points of interconnection, slipping schedules, and the rules and dates that moved. Every figure is from ERCOT's own report or the document linked; every county links to its page on this site for the full table.

Jump to: Numbers · New · Withdrawn · Moved forward · Crowded POIs · Slipping · Rules · Dates

Download the PDF Excel: every active request, by county The spreadsheet has the issue's tables and all 1,766 active requests with stage and this month's change.

The month in numbers

Between ERCOT's September 2026 and October 2026 reports: 44 new requests (17,385 MW), 67 withdrawn (10,311 MW), net +7,074 MW; 31 requests moved to a later stage: 7 went from study to a signed interconnection agreement, 11 posted financial security (3 did both in one month), and 16 were approved for energization or synchronization. The report lists 1,766 active requests in all.

New requests by type: 17 battery storage, 16 solar, 9 gas combined cycle, 1 gas engines, 1 gas steam turbine. Withdrawn by type: 36 battery storage, 29 solar, 2 wind. Counties with the most new requests: Jones (4), Atascosa (3), Knox (3), Cameron (3), La Salle (2), Mitchell (2), Cottle (2), Howard (2), Comanche (2), Leon (2), Freestone (2), Callahan (2), Live Oak (2).

New requests

The largest of the 44 requests that appear for the first time in the October 2026 report, as ERCOT lists them. A new request is a study position, not a project.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Withdrawn

The largest of the 67 requests in the September 2026 report that are absent from October 2026. ERCOT does not publish the reason; a withdrawal frees a study position at that point of interconnection.

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Moved forward

Requests whose stage advanced between the two reports, largest first. Stage labels follow ERCOT's report: approved for energization and approved for synchronization are ERCOT's milestones; agreement signed and security posted are read from its agreement and security columns.

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Crowded points of interconnection

The substations with the most active requests in the October 2026 report, matched on ERCOT's PSS/E bus number rather than the exact wording of the POI column, so a tap off a line counts toward both of its ends and "60404 SOLSTICE" and "AEP Solstice Substation #60404" count together. Direct = requests naming the bus itself; the rest are on tap lines into it. Requests on the same bus compete for the same transmission capacity and each one's study carries the others' assumptions, but in ERCOT every request has its own study and generators do not share network-upgrade costs: the transmission provider builds the upgrades and recovers them through transmission rates. Each county page lists the requests behind its own crowded buses.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Schedules slipping

16 active requests (1,900 MW) carry a target commercial-operation date that had passed by the end of October 2026 without approval for energization. ERCOT keeps the developer's last reported date until the developer changes it, so these are schedules that moved, not projects that were built. Most in: Upton (2), Reeves (2), Kent (1), Harris (1), Castro (1), Henderson (1).

Rules that moved

Changes a developer in ERCOT should have on file this month, each linked to the document.

• ERCOT paused the Batch Zero study process on Aug. 3, 2026 and plans to file its Batch Zero Eligibility Verification Report Dec. 10, 2026. (ERCOT, Batch Zero Verification and Audit PUCT presentation, Aug. 20, 2026)
• Only ~18% of 290 large-load dynamic models ERCOT reviewed were acceptable on first review. (ERCOT, Batch Zero Verification and Audit PUCT presentation, Aug. 20, 2026)
• PUCT adopted the final large-load interconnection rule on Sept. 18, 2026 (Project 58481), standardizing requirements for loads of 75 MW or more; the draft's non-refundable $50,000/MW fee was dropped in favor of a flat $100,000 study fee, with $50,000 per MW of requested capacity posted as financial security before studies begin. (White & Case client alert, September 2026)
• The final PUCT rule gives large loads a 24-month grace period spanning the energization schedule. (White & Case client alert, September 2026)
• On Sept. 21, 2026 the Governor directed TCEQ to pause permits related to data center projects; on Oct. 19, 2026, TCEQ told the Governor it had paused all permits related to building infrastructure directly supporting data centers. (TCEQ letter to Gov. Abbott, Oct. 19, 2026)
• All SGIAs executed on or after January 1, 2026 use the updated form approved in PUCT Project 58211; amendments to earlier SGIAs use the old form. (ERCOT market notice M-A120125-02)
• Interconnecting entities above 20 MVA have 300 days from ERCOT's synchronization approval to reach commercial operation unless ERCOT grants a good-cause exception (PGRR103 as filed said 180 days; TAC raised it to 300 before approval). (ERCOT PGRR103)

Dates to watch

• 2026-12-10 · ERCOT: Batch Zero large-load eligibility verification report due to the PUCT (ERCOT presentation, Aug 20, 2026)
• 2027-02-15 · El Paso Electric: Annual 45-day large-generator interconnection window opens (El Paso Electric tariff, Attachment M)
• 2028-03-05 · Texas (TCEQ): Construction General Permit TXR150000 expires; TCEQ renews it (TCEQ)
• 2029-09-01 · Texas (Legislature): Tax Code Chapter 312 expires unless the Legislature continues it, ending the authority to enter new abatement agreements; ask counsel about agreements already signed (Tax Code §312.006)

Full calendar, subscribable: interconnection page.

Where to verify

Past issues

• September 2026 report

Every row above comes from ERCOT's monthly Generator Interconnection Status report (October 2026 file), compared mechanically with the September 2026 file by interconnection request number; the method is on the methodology page. Names, developers and points of interconnection are as ERCOT lists them. This brief reports changes; it takes no position on any project or company and is not advice.