Nov 8, 2026 · Research · 2 min
How often does a power date come true?
New large-load sites in Texas met 13 of 59 first power dates. Half waited 221 days or more past the date for power.
- 22%of first power dates met at new large-load sites, 13 of 59
- 221 daysuntil half of those sites had power, counted from the date given
- 48%met for added phases at sites already drawing power, 20 of 42
A data center is planned around one date: the day the grid turns it on. Leases, debt and hardware orders are set against it. We collected the power dates that large energy users in Texas gave in public and scored each one against the day power arrived.
New sites are the least reliable dates on the grid
We graded power plants and batteries on the Texas grid, run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the same way. A new site’s first date held less often than any of them.
When a date slips, it slips by months
46 new sites missed their first date. 22 got power later, a median of 162 days late. 24 had no power on record as of November 7.
The building, the debt and the hardware do not wait for the grid. Each month past the date is cost with no revenue against it.
How we know
393 dated public statements, each kept with its quote and source. 331 are scored by one written rule: a date is met if power arrived by the last day of the period stated. 33 large-load dates are still pending and will be scored as they fall due.
The groups are small, so read them as direction, not precision. Projects that stall quietly rarely publish an outcome, which likely flatters these rates. A miss is not always the grid: case notes also cite construction, financing and hosting partners.