Amazon is investing in a large-scale natural gas power plant as part of a massive data center project in Pecos County, Texas, a facility that could become the single largest source of climate pollution in the United States, the company confirmed.
Amazon defends move as cost-neutral for Texas families
An Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement to the New York Times that the data center would be "powered by new on-site generation that won't raise electricity costs for Texas families." According to regulatory records cited by the newspaper, the new gas-burning plant, if built to specifications, would be permitted to release 33 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, more than any other power plant in the country.
Climate pledge under pressure
Amazon has been struggling to meet its commitment to effectively eliminate its planet-warming emissions by 2040 under the Climate Pledge, a voluntary agreement among companies that Amazon co-founded. The company's emissions have risen every year for the past several years, and Amazon has acknowledged that growing energy demand from AI data centers could hinder its climate goals. Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan told the publication that "the world looks different now than when we co-founded the climate pledge," but added that the company's commitment 'hasn't changed'.
AI boom straining the power grid
AI data centers require enormous amounts of energy to run the calculations needed for AI systems and services, and the scale of this demand is outpacing the electricity-generating capacity of the national power grid, according to the report. To avoid delays connecting to electrical utilities, data center developers are increasingly building their own dedicated on-site power plants, with gas-burning facilities typically the fastest and cheapest to construct. The Trump administration has supported this approach, with the newspaper noting that the president has promoted oil, natural gas and coal over renewable energy sources and issued an executive order last year aimed at fast-tracking data center construction.
Plant details and Amazon's response
Amazon said it had recently acquired the Pecos County site, where a developer is building the gas-burning plant. The facility would use 35 natural gas turbines capable of generating up to 7.65 gigawatts of power for Amazon's data center, according to permits reviewed by the newspaper. Callahan said the plant would not initially connect to the wider electricity grid, since the site sits in a remote part of West Texas near major natural-gas-producing regions. She added that Amazon was also exploring solar energy and battery storage at the site, which she said would create thousands of new jobs. The company did not disclose the value of the deal.
