Digdug

This week I found permits and satellite photos suggesting Amazon is backing what could be the largest gas power plant ever built in the US. I just got off the phone with the company and confirmed they're behind it. Amazon confirmed that it has acquired a site in Pecos County, Texas called GW Ranch, where it plans to build an AI data center campus powered by a 7.65 GW gas plant. It would initially be entirely disconnected from the Texas electric grid. In January, GW Ranch received a permit from the state of Texas allowing the gas power plant to emit 33 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If the project emitted that much CO2, it would be the largest single source of pollution in the United States—emitting more greenhouse gases than the country’s largest coal plant. It’s worth noting that companies rarely emit as much as their permits allow. The paper trail linking Amazon to GW Ranch surfaced earlier this week when Amazon filed three construction permits with the state. The permits showed Amazon’s plans to build three data center buildings with construction beginning immediately. Cleanview reviewed satellite imagery to look for the project and discovered that land clearing had begun at the site described in GW Ranch’s air permit records. We reached out to Amazon and the company confirmed it had acquired the GW Ranch site and plans to buy power from the plant, which is being developed by Pacifico Energy. Partnering with GW Ranch marks Amazon’s first major investment in an off-grid data center. In doing so, the company joins Microsoft, Google, and Meta who have all invested significantly in natural gas power this year. Data center developers have announced nearly 60 behind-the-meter gas power projects since the beginning of 2025 with a combined capacity of 90 GW, according to Cleanview’s latest report. Not all of these projects will be built, but in recent months a growing share of them have begun construction and signed key tenant deals. Amazon’s project in West Texas is unlikely to be its last bet on large-scale natural gas power. Yesterday, the company confirmed that it is in talks with the developers of a 4.5 GW gas power plant in Homer City, Pennsylvania. When the developers of the Homer City gas plant first announced their project, they said it would be the largest gas power plant in America. Now it’s just one of many giga-scale power plants that have been proposed across the country.