Amazon has purchased a site in Pecos County, Texas, and plans to buy electricity from a proposed natural-gas power plant called GW Ranch, as reported by TechCrunch. The 35 natural-gas turbines at the facility are designed to deliver 7.65 gigawatts of power directly to the new data center without connecting to the state grid initially.
Data center tracking group Cleanview found that Texas regulators granted GW Ranch a permit allowing emissions of up to 33 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. According to reporting by the New York Times, that permitted cap is higher than the allowance for any operational coal plant in the United States. While facilities rarely reach maximum permitted limits, the state permit creates one of the highest potential greenhouse gas output levels for a single energy project nationwide.
Jeff Bezos previously set a goal under Amazon's Climate Pledge for the enterprise to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. However, company emissions have increased for several consecutive years due to expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure. Addressing the project, Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan told the New York Times that while the world looks different than when Amazon co-founded the climate pledge, the company's commitment has not changed.
The West Texas project arrives as competitors including Google and Meta build dedicated power plants using gas and coal to feed energy-intensive AI facilities. Amazon's data centers consumed 2.5 billion gallons of water last year. Meanwhile, federal policies under the Trump administration have moved to reduce restrictions on fossil-fuel power plants.
