Texas Data Centers Shift to Gas-Powered Energy Solutions
Last week, Texas’ environmental regulator issued the largest air pollution permit in the nation for a massive planned complex of gas power plants and data centers near the oilfields of the Permian Basin. This announcement came from the developers of the project, highlighting its significance in the energy landscape.
Pacifico Energy, a global, investor-owned infrastructure company, has dubbed its 7.65 gigawatt Ranch in Pecos County “the largest power project in the United States.” This ambitious venture is part of a series of colossal projects announced in 2025, positioning Texas as the global epicenter of gas power development, according to data released by Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
“Massive fossil fuel infrastructure is being developed, often directly at the source of gas supply, in order to feed speculative AI demand,” stated Jenny Martos, project manager for GEM’s Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker.
In August, developer Fermi America applied for air permits for 6 gigawatts of gas power to support data centers at its planned complex near Amarillo. Additionally, in November, Chevron revealed plans to construct its first-ever power plant, which aims to generate up to 5 gigawatts of power specifically for artificial intelligence in West Texas.
These energy volumes are staggering, sufficient to power mid-sized cities. During 2025, the pipeline of gas power projects under development in Texas surged by nearly 58 gigawatts of generation capacity, as reported by GEM. This figure surpasses the peak power demand of the state of California.
Only China, with a population 50 times larger and land 15 times more extensive, has more gas power projects in development than Texas. Nearly half of all upcoming gas power projects in Texas, totaling 40 gigawatts of capacity, are intended to directly power data centers.
“There is just an explosion of these things,” remarked Griffin Bird, a research analyst tracking gas plants for the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project in Washington, D.C. “We’re having such a tough time staying on top of new projects.”
The planned hyperscale facilities in north and west Texas, if fully realized, could become some of the largest sources of emissions in both the country and the world, Bird noted.
Pacifico’s GW Ranch in Pecos County is authorized to emit over 12,000 tons per year of regulated air pollutants, including soot, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds, according to permitting documents from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The complex could also release up to 33 million tons per year of greenhouse gases, equating to nearly 5% of Canada’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Gas plants planned at Fermi America’s Project Matador are projected to release up to 24 million tons per year of greenhouse gases. “I’d be hard-pressed to think of a bigger emitter,” Bird added.
Numerous gas power projects for data centers, each with capacities of up to 500 megawatts—enough to power over 200,000 homes—have received permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in just a month. For instance, Misae Gas Power applied for permits to install 206 gas generators totaling 519 megawatts at a data center outside San Antonio on December 23. The TCEQ granted the permit on January 14, allowing emissions of 133 tons per year of toxic particulate matter and 10 tons per year of cancer-causing formaldehyde.
In the small town of Blue, about 50 miles east of Austin, the TCEQ issued a permit in October for the 1.2 gigawatt Sandow Lakes Power Plant, located near North America’s largest Bitcoin mining facility. Local residents formed a group called Move the Gas Plant and formally requested a hearing regarding the air pollution permit, which would authorize 460 tons per year of ammonia emissions, 153 tons of soot, 76 tons of sulfuric acid, and 18 tons of other hazardous air pollutants. However, TCEQ denied their request and issued the permits during a public meeting in October.
“It took them literally 45 seconds to bring it up and deny our request for a hearing,” said Travis Brown, spokesperson for Move the Gas Plant. “There was essentially zero discussion.”
Shortly after, Sandow began construction at the site, just four miles from Brown’s home, where he and his wife feed deer and other wildlife in the woods of rural Lee County. “They’re going gung-ho out there,” he remarked. “They’ve cleared that site and bulldozed trees, installed housing for workers and power lines.”
Currently, Texas has 11 gas power plant projects under construction, according to GEM data. There are 102 projects in preconstruction—acquiring land, permits, and contracts—and another 28 projects have been announced. If all these plants are built, it would more than double Texas’ current gas power generation capacity.
Pacifico’s GW Ranch, if operated at full 7.65 gigawatt capacity, could consume between 1 and 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day, as calculated by Gabriel Collins, a researcher at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston. This consumption would represent between 4% and 7% of gas produced in 2025 from the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most prolific shale plays.
“Even for something like the Permian, that’s a very material chunk,” Collins noted, emphasizing the scale of these projects.
While not every super-project announced in Texas will come to fruition, Collins pointed out that some have impressive public relations operations that may oversell their technical and financial capacities. Even those that do get built won’t come online all at once but rather slowly, 100 megawatts at a time, over several years. They might not ever reach their full capacity. Nonetheless, the gas-powered data center projects announced in Texas and elsewhere last year involve quantities of energy that are difficult to comprehend and were seldom discussed just a few years ago.
“It’s important to help people keep a sense of perspective on these,” Collins said. “Even if they built just a small fraction of what that permit says, it’d still be a tremendous facility.”
Disclosure: Rice University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
Topics
Texas
Last week, Texas’ environmental regulator issued the largest air pollution permit in the nation for a massive planned complex of gas power plants and data centers near the oilfields of the Permian Basin. This announcement came from the developers of the project, highlighting its significance in the energy landscape.
Pacifico Energy, a global, investor-owned infrastructure company, has dubbed its 7.65 gigawatt Ranch in Pecos County “the largest power project in the United States.” This ambitious venture is part of a series of colossal projects announced in 2025, positioning Texas as the global epicenter of gas power development, according to data released by Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
“Massive fossil fuel infrastructure is being developed, often directly at the source of gas supply, in order to feed speculative AI demand,” stated Jenny Martos, project manager for GEM’s Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker.
In August, developer Fermi America applied for air permits for 6 gigawatts of gas power to support data centers at its planned complex near Amarillo. Additionally, in November, Chevron revealed plans to construct its first-ever power plant, which aims to generate up to 5 gigawatts of power specifically for artificial intelligence in West Texas.
These energy volumes are staggering, sufficient to power mid-sized cities. During 2025, the pipeline of gas power projects under development in Texas surged by nearly 58 gigawatts of generation capacity, as reported by GEM. This figure surpasses the peak power demand of the state of California.
Only China, with a population 50 times larger and land 15 times more extensive, has more gas power projects in development than Texas. Nearly half of all upcoming gas power projects in Texas, totaling 40 gigawatts of capacity, are intended to directly power data centers.
“There is just an explosion of these things,” remarked Griffin Bird, a research analyst tracking gas plants for the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project in Washington, D.C. “We’re having such a tough time staying on top of new projects.”
The planned hyperscale facilities in north and west Texas, if fully realized, could become some of the largest sources of emissions in both the country and the world, Bird noted.
Pacifico’s GW Ranch in Pecos County is authorized to emit over 12,000 tons per year of regulated air pollutants, including soot, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds, according to permitting documents from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The complex could also release up to 33 million tons per year of greenhouse gases, equating to nearly 5% of Canada’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Gas plants planned at Fermi America’s Project Matador are projected to release up to 24 million tons per year of greenhouse gases. “I’d be hard-pressed to think of a bigger emitter,” Bird added.
Numerous gas power projects for data centers, each with capacities of up to 500 megawatts—enough to power over 200,000 homes—have received permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in just a month. For instance, Misae Gas Power applied for permits to install 206 gas generators totaling 519 megawatts at a data center outside San Antonio on December 23. The TCEQ granted the permit on January 14, allowing emissions of 133 tons per year of toxic particulate matter and 10 tons per year of cancer-causing formaldehyde.
In the small town of Blue, about 50 miles east of Austin, the TCEQ issued a permit in October for the 1.2 gigawatt Sandow Lakes Power Plant, located near North America’s largest Bitcoin mining facility. Local residents formed a group called Move the Gas Plant and formally requested a hearing regarding the air pollution permit, which would authorize 460 tons per year of ammonia emissions, 153 tons of soot, 76 tons of sulfuric acid, and 18 tons of other hazardous air pollutants. However, TCEQ denied their request and issued the permits during a public meeting in October.
“It took them literally 45 seconds to bring it up and deny our request for a hearing,” said Travis Brown, spokesperson for Move the Gas Plant. “There was essentially zero discussion.”
Shortly after, Sandow began construction at the site, just four miles from Brown’s home, where he and his wife feed deer and other wildlife in the woods of rural Lee County. “They’re going gung-ho out there,” he remarked. “They’ve cleared that site and bulldozed trees, installed housing for workers and power lines.”
Currently, Texas has 11 gas power plant projects under construction, according to GEM data. There are 102 projects in preconstruction—acquiring land, permits, and contracts—and another 28 projects have been announced. If all these plants are built, it would more than double Texas’ current gas power generation capacity.
Pacifico’s GW Ranch, if operated at full 7.65 gigawatt capacity, could consume between 1 and 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day, as calculated by Gabriel Collins, a researcher at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston. This consumption would represent between 4% and 7% of gas produced in 2025 from the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most prolific shale plays.
“Even for something like the Permian, that’s a very material chunk,” Collins noted, emphasizing the scale of these projects.
While not every super-project announced in Texas will come to fruition, Collins pointed out that some have impressive public relations operations that may oversell their technical and financial capacities. Even those that do get built won’t come online all at once but rather slowly, 100 megawatts at a time, over several years. They might not ever reach their full capacity. Nonetheless, the gas-powered data center projects announced in Texas and elsewhere last year involve quantities of energy that are difficult to comprehend and were seldom discussed just a few years ago.
“It’s important to help people keep a sense of perspective on these,” Collins said. “Even if they built just a small fraction of what that permit says, it’d still be a tremendous facility.”
Disclosure: Rice University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
Topics
Texas
