Amazon Texas data center gas plant allowed 33M tons CO2
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- Amazon is building a 7.65-gigawatt data center campus in Pecos County, Texas powered by 35 on-site natural-gas turbines that will initially operate disconnected from the state power grid.
- The GW Ranch power plant received a Texas permit allowing up to 33 million tons of CO2 emissions annually — more than even the largest coal plant in the US, per Cleanview.
- Amazon's emissions have climbed for consecutive years as AI demand has grown, complicating Jeff Bezos's 2040 carbon-neutral pledge under the company's Climate Pledge initiative.
- Meta and Google have also begun building their own gas, coal, and other non-renewable power plants to keep pace with surging AI data center electricity demand.
- The Trump administration has sought to lift restrictions on polluting power plants, creating a more permissive regulatory backdrop for fossil-fueled AI infrastructure.
- Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan told the New York Times that "the world looks different now" than when the Climate Pledge was founded, but insisted the company's commitment hasn't changed.
Why it matters: The GW Ranch permit for 33 million tons of CO2 exceeds every US coal plant, per Cleanview, representing a significant setback for Amazon's 2040 carbon-neutral Climate Pledge as the company's emissions have risen for consecutive years. Meta and Google are building their own fossil-fueled plants for AI, while the Trump administration eases restrictions on such facilities.
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