By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive.comDespite the Ratepayer Protection Pledge’s call for planned data centers to supply their own new generation, existing power plants will play a major role in supplying them with power, according to Joseph Dominguez, Constellation president and CEO. The company doubts the state’s audit of proposed data centers will take long. With large load interconnection requests — mostly data centers — totaling about 474 GW, Abbott asked that planned data centers provide information about their power supplies, expected electric and water use, and amount of public financial assistance. Meanwhile, Constellation expects the currently low wholesale power prices in ERCOT will rebound when data centers start coming online, according to Dominguez. Also in Texas, after a bidding process, Constellation sold its 606-MW gas-fired Brazos Valley power plant to LS Power for $860 million, or about $1,420/kW.