Hut 8, the company developing a planned 525-acre data center in Nueces County, will not require an audit under a directive by Gov. Greg Abbott for data centers that plan to connect to the Texas electricity grid.
Hut 8 is the company behind the development of the Beacon Point data center campus in Calallen. It said in an Aug. 10 news release that it is committed to responsible data center development.
The governor on Aug. 3 instructed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct a comprehensive verification of all data centers that plan to connect to the Texas electricity grid.
The directive instructed the PUC and ERCOT to obtain information about public financial assistance, projected electricity
consumption, water consumption and more.
Currently, ERCOT is considering an estimate of 474 gigawatts of requests to connect to the state grid, which is more than five times Texas’ record peak electricity demand.
Approximately 90% of the new power requests are from data centers, which prompted the governor to roll out the directive.
This comes as state leaders urge for regulations of data centers.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller recently called on the governor to convene a special legislative session relating to “unchecked expansion of large-scale data centers.”
The Beacon Point development is planned to have 1,000 megawatts of utility capacity under an interconnection agreement with AEP Texas for electricity service.
Since the agreement is secured, it will not be audited by ERCOT as the directive is focused on developments needing approval for interconnection.
Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, said the company applauds the directive by Abbott and that the directive is consistent with Hut 8’s development model.
“Responsible growth requires developers to think beyond the data center to the grid that powers their projects, the local resources around them, and the communities that host them,” Genoot said in a news release.
“That perspective has shaped how Hut 8 has built and operated in Texas since 2022, and we believe it will only grow in importance as the next generation of digital infrastructure is built across the state.”
Hut 8 claims to incorporate battery systems in the Beacon Point design to mitigate voltage impacts and support reliable integration with the Texas grid.
The news release also included supportive statements from Scot Hafley, superintendent of the Calallen Independent School District; Nueces County Sheriff J.C. Hooper; and Mark Escamilla, president and CEO of Del Mar College.
Escamilla said that Hut 8 has engaged directly with workforce programs and will support employment pathways for students.
“Investments of this scale don’t just diversify our regional economy — they create real, lasting pathways for our students in high-demand fields like electrical systems, HVAC, industrial maintenance, and data infrastructure,” Escamilla said in the news release.
Hut 8 currently has 1.5 gigawatts of utility capacity across operational and development sites in Texas.
Critics of the development such as the Coastal Watch Association, an environmental conservation nonprofit formed in Ingleside, believe the location of Beacon Point will create detrimental effects to residents living nearby.
Hector Gonzales, community outreach manager for the Coastal Watch Association, told the Caller-Times about a flight he took in July to view the project from an aerial perspective.
He said the location of the Beacon Point seems to be intentional as the data center site is located across from the Lon C. Hill power station and is near the O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant.
Hut 8 has said it will use a closed-loop water system with water sourced from outside the county that would require a single fill which could be used for operations for four to seven years.
“Looking back, that piece of property that they are clearing for the data center, it’s the closest open farmland that’s available to build a project like that and the absolute closest to water and electricity,” Gonzales said.
“So, they might be bringing water in from out of the county; however, the wastewater will probably end up going to [O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant] … so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.”
The project is also near an AEP Texas substation.
Gonzales said that awareness about data centers’ potential effects is crucial.
“I really feel that most of the people who are in support of this project probably are not aware of the significant impact of noise and light pollution that will be affecting those adjacent communities,” he said.
Hut 8 recently signed a second lease for the Beacon Point campus, bringing the total contract amount to $19.6 billion.
Felicity Guajardo covers breaking news and public safety. Contact her at felicity.guajardo@caller.com.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: No audit for planned Nueces County data center under Abbott's order
