Governance, Risk and Compliance

Grid rules, certifications, AI rules and insurance · Flagship: Texas SB 6

Grid rules are now the fastest-changing part of data center compliance. Texas's SB 6 makes 75 MW loads disclose duplicate requests and curtail in emergencies, as ERCOT's queue reached 474.7 GW, five times the state's record peak; FERC, Ohio and Virginia followed with rules of their own.

ERCOT's large-load queue reached 474.7 GW in June 2026, of which 420.8 GW was data centers, more than five times the Texas grid's record peak of about 91 GW; and what Texas SB 6 and the draft PUCT rule require of a 1 GW data center ERCOT LARGE-LOAD QUEUE vs. RECORD PEAK, GW (JUNE 2026) 0 100 200 300 400 500 Large-load queueAll requests474.7 Data centers90% of the queue420.8 Record peak demandJuly 22, 202691.1 WHAT TEXAS ASKS OF A 1 GW DATA CENTER (SB 6, DRAFT PUCT RULE) $300,000study fee $50Msecurity, $50,000 per MW Discloseduplicates and backup generation Curtailin grid emergencies
ERCOT queue
474.7 GW
Data centers
90%
Texas threshold
75 MW
Security, 1 GW
$50M
Hub
Operations

What it is

The Rules Data Centers Answer To

Governance, risk and compliance covers the laws, certifications and board-level risks a data center operator manages.

  • Grid rules: the fastest-moving area. Texas, FERC, Ohio and Virginia all set new rules for large loads in 2025 and 2026.
  • Certifications: customers expect SOC 2 and ISO 27001; government work needs FedRAMP, now moving to the faster FedRAMP 20x; AI work increasingly asks for ISO 42001.
  • AI rules: the EU AI Act's general-purpose AI obligations apply since August 2025; its high-risk deadlines were pushed to 2027 and 2028.
  • Insurance: average insured project values rose from about $150 million to $3 billion in five years (Zurich); insurance covers perhaps a third to half of a campus's value, and a frontier AI campus can top $50 billion (Aon).

Flagship

Texas SB 6: The First Large-Load Law

  • Scope: signed June 2025, it covers new loads of 75 MW or more on the ERCOT grid.
  • Disclosure: applicants must reveal duplicate requests elsewhere in Texas and any on-site backup generation able to carry half their demand; site control and money come before a study.
  • Emergencies: ERCOT can order loads with backup generation to curtail; non-critical new large loads are curtailed during firm load shed.
  • Costs: the draft PUCT rule sets a $300,000 study fee above 250 MW and $50,000 per MW of security, $50 million for a 1 GW site.
  • Audit: in August 2026 Governor Abbott ordered an audit of the queue, which held 474.7 GW, 420.8 GW of it data centers. See AustinIO on ERCOT large-load interconnection.

Rules

Laws, Orders and Standards

Data center laws, orders and standards
RuleWhat it requiresStatus
Texas SB 6Loads of 75 MW+: disclosure, emergency curtailment, cost recovery; PUCT rule by end of 2026Enacted June 2025; rule proposed
FERC large-load ordersSix show-cause orders to grid operators for loads of 50 MW+; tariff filings due August 2026Issued June 2026
FERC PJM co-location orderNew services for loads sited at power plants, including non-firm service without capacity chargesIssued December 2025
AEP Ohio data center tariffNew data centers pay for at least 85% of contracted demand for up to 12 years; pipeline fell from 30+ GW to ~13 GWApproved July 2025
VirginiaSite assessments before local approval; water reporting; governor's order ending by-right approval above 25 MW2026 session; order September 2026
EU AI ActGeneral-purpose AI rules since August 2025; high-risk deadlines moved to 2027-2028In force
FedRAMP 20xFaster federal cloud authorizations; new rules mandatory January 2027Rolling out
ISO/IEC 27001 and 42001Information security and AI management certificationsVoluntary
Uptime Tiers and TIA-942Design and operations ratings for data center resilienceVoluntary

Record

Dataset Record

Dataset
Data center laws, grid orders, certifications and insurance
Sources
Texas Legislature, PUCT, POWER Magazine, Greenberg Traurig, FERC via Willkie and Mayer Brown, PUCO, Beveridge & Diamond, Virginia Business, Lewis Silkin, Zurich, S&P, Swiss Re, Aon via ENR
Last verified
October 2026