What is powered land?

Powered land is a parcel that can be served with large-scale electric power on a workable timeline — because it sits near high-voltage transmission and substation capacity and has a credible interconnection path with the utility and grid operator. For data centers, powered land is the real asset: the value is in the deliverable megawatts, and the dirt is where they land. A parcel with committed capacity can be worth many times an identical parcel without it.

How long does it take to get power for a data center in Texas?

It varies widely and, in 2026, it's the binding constraint. ERCOT's large-load interconnection queue grew to roughly 410 GW by March 2026 — far more than the grid can serve quickly — so timelines depend on where a site sits relative to existing transmission and substation capacity and how far along the interconnection process is. Senate Bill 6 added formal study and site-control steps for loads of 75 MW or more, which front-loads commitments. Many large projects also pair grid power with on-site generation to bridge the wait.

What is the difference between requested and committed power capacity?

Requested capacity is a number in an interconnection queue — an ask that may never be built. Committed (or verified) capacity is power the utility has actually agreed to deliver. The distinction is everything in data center land: pricing tracks committed megawatts, and the enormous ERCOT queue is dominated by requests, many of them speculative or duplicative. A site with 100 MW committed is in a different universe from one with 500 MW merely requested.

Market insight · September 1, 2026 · Steven Owen

Powered land: why ERCOT access decides data center sites

In 2026, the thing that decides where a data center gets built in Texas isn’t the land — it’s the power. “Powered land” — a parcel that can be served with large-scale electricity on a workable timeline — has become the real asset, and the dirt is just where the megawatts land. The scarcity is stark: ERCOT’s large-load interconnection queue grew from about 63 GW in December 2024 to roughly 410 GW by March 2026, with the large majority tied to AI data centers — far more than the grid can serve quickly. When power is the bottleneck, a site’s value tracks its committed megawatts and interconnection timeline more than any other factor.

What “powered land” actually means

A parcel is “powered” when it can realistically be served with the load a project needs — because it sits near high-voltage transmission (in ERCOT, think 345 kV lines) and substation capacity, and has a credible interconnection path. Proximity alone isn’t enough; the substation and lines have to have headroom, and the utility has to be able to commit. That’s why two neighboring tracts can be worlds apart: one backs up to spare substation capacity, the other doesn’t.

Requested vs. committed: the number that matters

The eye-popping ERCOT queue figure is mostly requests — asks that may never be built, and often duplicative filings by the same players hunting for the best site. What a buyer pays for is committed, verified capacity: power the utility has actually agreed to deliver. Committed load has become the single strongest predictor of data center land pricing. It’s why one 2026 Texas deal reached about $1.16 million per acre for 66 acres near Graham — the asset was 164 MW of secured interconnection, not the ground — while markets with little committed load can trade near ordinary rural values.

How Senate Bill 6 changed the game

Texas Senate Bill 6 (enacted 2025) directed the PUCT to create interconnection standards for “large loads” — 75 MW or more at a single site. Under the draft rule, key changes shape every powered-land deal:

Site control up front. Before ERCOT begins an interconnection study, the customer must show control of the land — a deed, a purchase option, or a lease extending at least five years beyond the contracted peak-demand date.
Disclosure of duplicate requests. Applicants must disclose parallel interconnection filings by the same company or affiliates — aimed squarely at the speculative queue.
Emergency curtailment. New large loads at transmission voltage (interconnected after December 31, 2025) must be able to be remotely curtailed or disconnected during firm load-shed events, after market options are exhausted, and disclose on-site backup generation.

Net effect: interconnection now front-loads real commitments — which raises the value of a clean, optionable, well-positioned site.

Behind-the-meter power and the gas bridge

Because the grid can’t serve everyone quickly, many large projects pair grid interconnection with on-site generation to bridge the wait — natural-gas plants and, increasingly, battery storage. The Stargate campus near Abilene, for example, is being supported by a roughly 1,015 MW on-site simple-cycle gas plant for its initial buildings, with more generation planned for a second Texas campus. For a landowner, proximity to a natural-gas transmission line can be nearly as valuable as proximity to electric transmission.

The demand behind it all

ERCOT’s summer peak sits around 92 GW in 2026, and the operator’s long-term forecasts show load climbing steeply as data centers connect through 2030 and beyond. That structural demand is why powered land in Texas commands a premium — and why the state added oversight, including an August 2026 audit of grid-connecting projects. Demand is real and durable; the constraint is how fast power can be delivered.

How SCORE reads a parcel’s power position

Steven Owen — an engineer with an NYU Stern finance MBA — assesses where a tract sits against 345 kV transmission, substation capacity, and natural-gas lines, what the realistic committed-megawatt and timeline story is under SB 6, and which developers are actively buying that profile. SCORE then packages the site and takes it to those buyers through a direct developer network. If you own land near transmission in the ERCOT footprint, start with the site-selection checklist and how to sell to a data center developer, and see our Texas focus.

Do you own land near ERCOT transmission?

Tell us the location. We’ll read its power position — transmission, substation, and gas — and tell you whether it’s a data center site, and what that’s worth.

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Figures are directional and dated 2026 (ERCOT queue and peak-demand data, PUCT/SB 6 rulemaking, project and transaction reporting). This is general information, not investment, engineering, or legal advice; interconnection feasibility and timelines are site-specific — confirm with the utility, ERCOT, and counsel. Related: site selection criteria · selling land to a developer · water, cooling & permitting.