ERCOT Classifies 4.2 GW of Galaxy Texas Data Center Projects in Batch Zero

Galaxy Digital said September 8 that five Texas data center projects totaling approximately 4.2 GW of gross power capacity have received conditional classifications through Galaxy ERCOT Batch Zero proceedings, providing new detail about how some of the company’s largest proposed computing loads will be treated in the Texas grid-interconnection process.

The distinction between the classifications is significant: approximately 1.63 GW at Galaxy’s Helios campus falls into the Base Load category, while another 2.6 GW across Caspian, Selene and Helios III has been classified as Studied Load and remains subject to capacity allocation in ERCOT’s system-wide study.

Five Galaxy projects received Batch Zero classifications

According to Galaxy’s September 8 disclosure, Helios I represents 800 MW and Helios II another 830 MW at the company’s West Texas campus.

Both are classified as Batch Zero Base Load. Galaxy says the capacity associated with Helios II received ERCOT approval in January 2026, before the relevant Batch Zero study validation date, and is part of more than 1.6 GW already approved at Helios.

The classification should therefore not be interpreted as ERCOT newly approving all 4.2 GW on September 8. Part of the portfolio had already completed earlier interconnection milestones.

The remaining three projects have a different status. Caspian represents 700 MW, Selene 900 MW and Helios III a 1,000 MW load request. Together they account for 2.6 GW and have received conditional Studied Load classifications.

Galaxy ERCOT Batch Zero classifications are not all approvals

Under Batch Zero, Base Load projects are modeled in the system-wide study without being subjected to further capacity allocation, while Studied Load projects compete for capacity through the study process.

That means the 2.6 GW associated with Caspian, Selene and Helios III should not yet be described as 2.6 GW of approved grid capacity or future electricity consumption.

Galaxy had submitted Caspian as Base Load, but ERCOT conditionally classified it as Studied Load. Galaxy says it will continue working through the review process and comply with additional requirements resulting from the ongoing audit.

Independent coverage of the announcement has similarly distinguished between the Base Load and Studied Load classifications rather than treating the entire portfolio as fully approved.

Batch Zero is testing Texas’s enormous large-load pipeline

ERCOT created Batch Zero as a transitional process for evaluating very large electricity users seeking to connect to the Texas power system. Instead of considering each qualifying request solely in isolation, the process evaluates the combined effect of large loads on available transmission capacity and grid reliability.

Microgrid Media previously reported that more than 17 GW of proposed large loads entered Batch Zero through CenterPoint Energy, illustrating how rapidly data-center demand is changing utility planning assumptions in Texas.

The statewide pipeline is much larger. ERCOT has previously reported hundreds of gigawatts of large-load requests, with data centers representing the overwhelming majority. Those requests are not forecasts of electricity consumption because many projects remain preliminary, overlap with alternative sites or may never reach operation.

Texas ordered additional scrutiny of data center projects

The classifications are also conditional because Texas regulators are conducting additional reviews of the large-load queue.

Galaxy said the process follows an August 3 directive from the Texas governor and an August 20 Public Utility Commission action allowing ERCOT to issue conditional classifications while audits and community-impact reviews continue.

Those reviews matter because very large data centers can require new substations, transmission lines and generation while potentially affecting how scarce grid capacity is allocated among competing projects.

The challenge extends beyond simply finding enough annual electricity. Large computing facilities must establish where and when their load will appear, how rapidly it can change and what infrastructure is required to serve it reliably.

That same issue is driving interest in alternative power architectures. Microgrid Media’s coverage of off-grid generation and battery storage for Texas AI data centers shows how some developers are considering behind-the-meter power when conventional interconnection schedules cannot match computing-development timelines.

Galaxy’s broader Texas pipeline exceeds 5.7 GW

Galaxy says its potential data-center power pipeline now exceeds 5.7 GW across four Texas sites.

In addition to the five projects covered by the latest classifications, that total includes another 1,000 MW load request at Helios and the Merlin campus in McGregor, which Galaxy says could ultimately support approximately 500 MW of gross power capacity.

The company’s existing Helios campus is already operating. Galaxy announced in July that the first phase had delivered approximately 200 MW of gross power, corresponding to 133 MW of critical IT load, to CoreWeave.

That operating capacity should be distinguished from Galaxy’s multi-gigawatt development pipeline. A proposed maximum, an interconnection request, a conditional Batch Zero classification and an energized data center represent materially different stages of development.

Capacity allocation is the next major test

The next consequential milestone for Galaxy ERCOT Batch Zero projects will be the outcome of the system-wide study and the capacity ultimately allocated to the Studied Load projects.

Until that process advances, the strongest conclusion supported by the evidence is that five Galaxy projects covering approximately 4.2 GW have received classifications—not that ERCOT has approved 4.2 GW of new data-center electricity demand.