Overview
- Amazon confirmed on Friday that it is financially backing the GW Ranch project in Pecos County, Texas, which has prompted fresh scrutiny from regulators and local residents.
- Texas regulators issued an air permit that allows roughly 33 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year for the site, a level larger than any single permitted source in the United States.
- Project filings show the plant would use 35 turbines to produce about 7.65 gigawatts of capacity, and Amazon has filed three data‑center construction permits for the adjoining campus.
- Satellite imagery and reporting show land clearing has begun and Amazon says the campus will run initially off-grid while it explores on-site solar, large battery storage, use of brackish groundwater, and a later grid connection.
- The GW Ranch plan is part of a wave of behind-the-meter generation moves by hyperscalers that could reshape demand for gas, batteries, and transmission and raises public health and climate concerns over local pollutants and upstream methane leaks.