Data centers and new power in Bell County, TX
3.1 GW of new power is waiting to connect to the grid in Bell County, TX — 13 active requests. Typical wait: 2.3 years. 6 projects are built, 7 withdrawn. Data as of 14 October 2026.
How far is it from your house?
Meta Temple, run by Meta, is in Bell County and uses about as much electricity as 142,000 homes.
31 public schools are within 5 miles of it, 1 within one mile. Counted from the facility, not from any home. School list: US Department of Education.
What is happening with electricity in Bell County
Every new power plant, battery or big customer has to join a waiting list before it can plug into the grid. This is what that list looks like in Bell County right now.
Where every request ever filed here ended up
Most requests in the US are withdrawn — a developer tests a site and moves on. That is normal, not a warning sign for Bell County.
What kind of power is asking to connect
By capacity requested. Data as of 14 October 2026.
All the numbers
26 requests ever filed
Source: interconnection queues published by ERCOT. Parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Data as of 14 October 2026. A queued project is a request, not a commitment.
Outcome of every request filed here
| Outcome | Projects | Capacity | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built | 6 | 1.4 GW | 23.1% |
| Still waiting | 13 | 3.1 GW | 50.0% |
| Withdrawn | 7 | 597 MW | 26.9% |
| Paused | 0 | — | 0.0% |
Waiting to connect, by type of power
| Type | Projects | Capacity requested |
|---|---|---|
| Batteries | 7 | 1.5 GW |
| Solar | 5 | 922 MW |
| Natural gas | 1 | 637 MW |
Key dates for projects here
no dated windows published
| Queue | What closes | Closes | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERCOT | ERCOT Batch 1 large load interconnection - applications not yet dated Successor cycle to Batch Zero under PGRR145. | No date published yet | confirmed source |
| ERCOT | ERCOT generation interconnection — rolling Not FERC-jurisdictional. | Open all year — no cut-off | unconfirmed source |
| FERC | FERC large-load show cause — stakeholder comments on RTO responses Comments on the six RTO/ISO responses to the FPA section 206 show-cause orders of 18 June 2026 (PJM EL26-67, SPP EL26-68, NYISO EL26-69, MISO EL26-70… | No date published yet | unconfirmed source |
| FERC | FERC RM26-4 — generic large-load rulemaking Still at ANOPR stage. | No date published yet | confirmed source |
| FERC | Georgia PSC - Georgia Power must file large-load contracts 30 days before execution A standing obligation rather than a dated one: large-load contracts must be filed with the commission at least 30 days before they are executed. | No date published yet | confirmed source |
| ERCOT | Texas SB 6 - large load curtailment protocol and equipment (PURA section 39.170(a)) All new large-load interconnections must carry ERCOT-controlled curtailment equipment. | Open all year — no cut-off | confirmed source |
A date marked confirmed was checked by a person against the authority's own tariff, order or form page. Anything else is listed so you know it exists, with a link so you can check it yourself. Full calendar.
The biggest projects on file
top 15 by size
| Project | Type | Capacity | Status | Filed | Queue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riviera Gas | Natural gas | 637 MW | active | 2029-01 | ERCOT |
| Lavita BESS | Batteries | 606 MW | active | 2026-01 | ERCOT |
| Chillingham Solar | Solar | 352 MW | active | 2023-01 | ERCOT |
| Five Wells Solar | Solar | 323 MW | completed | 2021-02 | ERCOT |
| Bell County Morgan Storage | Batteries | 256 MW | active | 2026-01 | ERCOT |
| Halo Solar | Solar | 254 MW | completed | 2020-01 | ERCOT |
| Five Wells BESS | Other | 221 MW | completed | 2021-02 | ERCOT |
| Stillhouse Solar | Solar | 211 MW | completed | 2021-11 | ERCOT |
| Bell County Leifester Storage | Batteries | 205 MW | active | 2026-01 | ERCOT |
| Limewood Solar | Solar | 205 MW | active | 2023-01 | ERCOT |
| Goldeneye BESS | Batteries | 202 MW | active | 2025-01 | ERCOT |
| Big Elm Solar | Solar | 201 MW | completed | 2019-06 | ERCOT |
| Chillingham Storage | Batteries | 154 MW | completed | 2020-09 | ERCOT |
| Cody Solar | Solar | 150 MW | withdrawn | 2021-04 | ERCOT |
| Cosper Solar | Solar | 148 MW | active | 2025-01 | ERCOT |
How Bell County compares
#108 in the US · #49 in TX
Bell County ranks #108 of 1,607 US counties by power waiting to connect, and #49 of 183 in Texas.
| County | Waiting | Capacity queued |
|---|---|---|
| Pecos County | 55 | 21.2 GW |
| Brazoria County | 55 | 11.7 GW |
| Milam County | 33 | 9.2 GW |
| Wharton County | 40 | 9.1 GW |
| Jack County | 18 | 8.6 GW |
| Hill County | 23 | 8.0 GW |
| Reeves County | 21 | 7.8 GW |
| Wilbarger County | 20 | 7.0 GW |
Common questions about power in Bell County
How long does it take to get power for a data center in Bell County, TX?
The median wait for a project still in the interconnection queue in Bell County is 2.3 years. Across the US, most large loads are quoted three to seven years depending on the market and whether network upgrades are needed. 6 projects in Bell County have reached energization and 7 were withdrawn, so the withdrawal rate here is a better guide to risk than any single quoted timeline.
How much capacity is available in Bell County, TX?
3.1 GW is currently requested across 13 active interconnection requests, and 1.4 GW has actually been built. A queued megawatt is a request, not deliverable capacity — most queued projects are never built. For deliverable offtake capacity at a specific substation you need a utility study, not a queue.
Is Bell County, TX a good site for a data center?
This page gives you the power half of that answer: what is queued, what has been energized, how long the wait runs, and which large load interconnection requests are already recorded nearby. The other half — the state policy position, moratoriums and large load tariffs — is on our Texas policy page.
Where does the data on this page come from?
The interconnection queue published by the transmission providers serving Bell County — ERCOT — parsed and normalised by Watt Street. Every figure carries the date it was true. Data as of 14 October 2026.
Go deeper on Bell County
The interactive map plots every one of these applications, and a generated county report puts them in a sourced PDF with the date each figure was true on every page.