Silver Basin Would Net a 180 MW Load Behind Taygete II’s 204 MW Solar Meter, But TNMP Says ERCOT Decides Too Much

Silver Basin Digital Infrastructure and West Texas Solar Project II want the Public Utility Commission of Texas to approve a net metering arrangement in Pecos County, Texas. The joint application, Docket No. 59115, pairs a 180 MW large load Silver Basin is developing with Taygete II, an existing 204 MWac solar plant. Silver Basin would sit behind the Taygete II point of interconnection and share the solar plant’s existing ERCOT Polled Settlement meter. The two would then settle as one netted position under ERCOT Nodal Protocols section 10.3.2.3(2)(a). A proposed order reached the commission in early October 2026, and Texas-New Mexico Power has filed against part of it.

AEP Texas owns the transmission facilities at the point of interconnection and is the wholesale transmission service provider. Texas-New Mexico Power holds the legal authority to deliver retail service to the netted load. Rio Grande Electric Cooperative serves the solar plant’s own auxiliary load today. The application carries large load interconnection number LLI-1198.

Why It Matters

Netting is the cheapest route onto the ERCOT grid for a load that does not want to wait in an interconnection queue. A load placed behind an existing generator’s meter uses transmission capacity that is already built and already paid for. Developers reading this docket get a working template: find an operating solar plant with headroom at its point of interconnection, co-locate, and settle through the meter that is already there. The arrangement also moves the reliability question from the interconnection study to the curtailment obligation, because nothing new gets built to serve the load.

What the Rule Requires

Before Senate Bill 6, a co-located load behind an existing resource had no dedicated state review. The commission adopted 16 Texas Administrative Code section 25.205 to implement Public Utility Regulatory Act section 39.169, enacted by that bill in the 89th Regular Session. The rule now applies to net metering arrangements involving a large load customer and an existing generation resource. It sets the criteria for an ERCOT study and the procedural steps for ERCOT to finish that study within 120 days. The commission then approves the arrangement, approves it with conditions, or denies it. ERCOT’s study obligation attaches to net metering arrangements involving large loads of 75 MW or more, so Silver Basin’s 180 MW sits well inside it.

Enforcement Reality

The proposed order’s teeth are a curtailment clock, not a penalty. Silver Basin would have to fully curtail within 30 minutes of notice from ERCOT, according to the filings review published by Halcyon on October 2, 2026. ERCOT would give at least 60 minutes of advance notice to the solar project’s qualified scheduling entity where that is practicable. Those two numbers are the whole reliability guarantee. The order does not attach a dollar penalty to a missed 30-minute deadline, and the public record shows no metered proof-of-curtailment requirement.

What TNMP Objects To

Texas-New Mexico Power did not argue the arithmetic. It argued the gatekeeping. The distribution utility told the commission that the arrangement hands ERCOT too much authority to decide what does and does not require a load study. That is a jurisdictional complaint from the one party obligated to deliver retail service to the netted load. The commission has approved netting arrangements on similar conditions before, and the 30-minute curtailment language is the new addition this time.

Sources

• Public Utility Commission of Texas, Control Number 59115, Item 1, filed December 12, 2025: Joint Application for Net Metering Approval by West Texas Solar Project II LLC and Silver Basin Digital Infrastructure LLC
• Public Utility Commission of Texas, Project No. 58479: Order Adopting New 16 TAC 25.205, Net Metering Arrangements Involving a Large Load Customer Co-Located with an Existing Generation Resource
• Halcyon, October 2, 2026: What’s Happening in Energy
• EPE Consulting, September 26, 2025: ERCOT Net Metering Process for Large Loads, What You Need to Know

Related Coverage

• ERCOT Queue Hits 226 GW as Data Centers Overwhelm Texas Grid: ERCOT grid capacity and load management
• Retired GM EV Batteries Power Texas Grid as B2U Hits 24 MWh in ERCOT: ERCOT queue and grid stability
• ERCOT Launches GRIT Initiative as Interconnection Queue Surges: ERCOT interconnection queue and grid relief
• RTOs Advance FERC Order 2222 Compliance: RTOs and ERCOT compliance and grid management