Texas utility CenterPoint Energy has submitted more than 17GW of large-load projects through the Electric Reliability Council of Texas's (ERCOT) Batch Zero process, with approximately 14GW expected to be eligible as base load or studied load.

In its latest earnings report, the utility said that the growth was driven largely by data center demand, prompting it to increase its ten-year capital investment plan by $1.2 billion to $66.7bn.

The Batch Zero process is ERCOT’s new interconnection process for large electricity users, covering any facility with a capacity of 75MW or more. Instead of studying requests one by one, the process replaces that with a single, system-wide study that evaluates all qualifying large loads together in one batch.

"As part of our industry's unprecedented and dynamic era of growth, our teams are converting that momentum into tangible results for our customers, large businesses seeking new connections, and our shareholders," said Jason Wells, chair, president, and CEO of CenterPoint.

Wells added that the 14GW of eligible base or studied load projected by 2031 "would be [more than] a 65 percent increase from our current system peak demand."

The increased capital plan reflects the growth of CenterPoint's data center and industrial load forecasts this year. In April, the company said it expected to energize 8GW of data center load in the Greater Houston area by 2029, with 3.5GW already under construction at the time. That forecast was accompanied by more than 12GW of "firmly committed" industrial load, up 63 percent from the previous quarter.

Texas is fast becoming the go-to destination for new data center developments. ERCOT has projected that statewide electricity demand could approach 368GW by 2032, driven largely by AI and data center load.

Houston-based CenterPoint provides electric and natural gas to customers across Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Texas.