Amazon is behind plans for one of the largest gas power plants in the US, securing on-site generation for upcoming data center campuses.
Amazon is backing what could be the largest natural gas power plant ever built in the United States.
The company confirmed that it has acquired a site in Pecos County, Texas, where it plans to build an AI data center campus powered by on-site natural gas generation. Permits for the gas plant reveal it would use 35 turbines to generate 7.65 gigawatts of power and operate entirely disconnected from the Texas electricity grid—at least initially.
"Amazon believes in paying the full costs of powering our operations," the company said. "Our new planned data center campus in Pecos County does just that: it's powered by new on-site generation that won't raise electricity costs for Texas families and designed to transition to grid-connected service as interconnection timelines allow."
In January, GW Ranch received a permit from 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. Companies rarely emit at their permitted capacity, however.
Amazon said it remains committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 under The Climate Pledge. Yet the gas plant would undermine those goals at a time when the company's emissions are already rising. Amazon has enabled 10 GW of carbon-free energy across 40 projects in Texas to power existing data center operations. The GW Ranch project will use non-potable, brackish groundwater unsuitable for irrigation or drinking.
Amazon's connection to the project surfaced this week with three construction permits filed to Texas for three data center buildings. The permits showed plans for immediate construction, and satellite imagery confirmed land clearing was already underway at the site. Amazon subsequently confirmed it had acquired the site and plans to purchase power from the plant, which is being developed by Pacifico Energy.
The partnership marks Amazon's first major off-grid data center investment, positioning it alongside Microsoft, Google, and Meta—all of which invested significantly in natural gas power this year. Since early 2025, data center developers have announced nearly 60 behind-the-meter gas power projects with combined capacity of 90 GW. Not all will be built, but an increasing share have begun construction and secured key tenant deals.
In June, Microsoft announced a partnership with Chevron to build a data center campus near Pecos, Texas, powered by 2 GW of off-grid natural gas, located 30 miles west of GW Ranch. Pacifico Energy plans 750 MW of on-site solar generation and 1.8 GW of battery storage at GW Ranch.
Until this year, Amazon powered all data centers through the grid. The AI boom is changing that calculus. During an investor call on July 30th, CEO Andy Jassy noted that AWS grew at its fastest rate in 18 quarters due to AI demand and that the company has more demand for compute than it can supply with current data centers—a gap expected to persist well into next year.
The Texas project is unlikely to be Amazon's last major natural gas investment. The company confirmed it is in talks with developers of a 4.5 GW gas power plant in Homer City, Pennsylvania. Originally announced as the largest gas power plant in America, that project is now one of many giga-scale power plants proposed across the country.