The Blockspace Pod: Understanding ERCOT’s Massive Overhaul w/ Tom Kleckner

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Tom Kleckner, a veteran energy correspondent at RTO Insider, joins us to talk about how ERCOT is overhauling the Texas grid to handle the unprecedented AI boom. We dive into the massive 233GW interconnection queue, the impact of Senate Bill 6 on transmission costs, and new reliability measures like DRRS. Tom breaks down the "batch process" for large loads and whether Bitcoin miners or AI data centers are better at balancing the grid. We also touch on the future of Texas energy, from gas plants to small modular nuclear reactors.

Notes:

* 70% demand jump to 145GW by 2031.

* Interconnection queue reached 233GW.

* SB6 shifts transmission costs to large loads.

* Large loads defined as 75MW or greater.

* Texas Energy Fund has $10 billion available.

* 73% of queue requests from data centers.

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CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world.

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