Amazon-Backed Texas Gas Plant Wins Permit for 33 Million Tons of CO2
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Aug 8
Amazon-Backed Texas Gas Plant Wins Permit for 33 Million Tons of CO2
3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Aug 8
Summary
Texas regulators permitted the Pecos County project to emit up to 33 million tons of CO2, a level Cleanview says exceeds even the largest U.S. coal plant.
Amazon said it bought the site and plans to buy power from GW Ranch, whose 35 gas turbines would generate 7.65 gigawatts mainly for a new West Texas data center rather than the state grid.
The project underscores how AI-driven electricity demand is pushing Amazon, Meta and Google toward dedicated fossil-fuel plants, helped by a Trump administration effort to ease limits on polluting generators.
For Amazon, even emissions well below the permit ceiling would deepen pressure on its 2040 Climate Pledge, after company emissions rose for several straight years.