Media: Data centers in Texas avoided public eco-environmental regulation — ForkLog

# СМИ: Texas data centers bypassed public environmental review

Developers of data centers in Texas used streamlined permitting to start building their own power plants without public discussion. WIRED reports this, citing Floodlight’s investigation.

For major pollution sources, an individual permit is required, including an environmental review and notification of residents. The simplified procedure allows separate turbines and generators to be approved faster and without public hearings.

According to Floodlight, these tools were originally intended for standard and relatively small emission sources. However, companies are now using the scheme to submit applications to expand an already-built facility, which is far harder to stop.

*Construction of the Stargate data center and its own power plant in Abilene, Texas. Source: Planet Labs PBC, Floodlight.*Since 2024, at least 38 data centers have used this procedure to obtain permission for on-site generation. More than half of the projects examined by journalists reported nitrogen oxide emissions slightly below the threshold at which public procedures begin. For example, a Vantage data center near San Antonio received a permit for 99.8 tons of emissions per year at a threshold of 100 tons.

Former employees of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) described the approach as the formula “small first, then big.” According to them, companies split a single project into multiple smaller applications, and later combine the installations into a large-scale power plant.

“All of this should have been combined into one permit,” said Bruce Buckheit, former head of air quality enforcement at the EPA.

He believes this practice may conflict with requirements to consider interconnected parts of a project together, as a whole.

Stargate asked to expand power plants

The central example of the investigation was the Stargate data center in Abilene. It is part of an infrastructure initiative by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, for which investments of up to $500 billion over four years are reported. The campus covers about 445 hectares, and a 360 MW gas power plant is located next to it.

In 2024, developers received streamlined permits for 10 gas turbines and 62 backup diesel generators. According to the documents, the equipment can emit more than 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and about 1,000 tons of other air pollutants per year.

A representative for campus developer Crusoe told Floodlight that the turbines would be used only for backup power. The existing permits, meanwhile, allow them to operate continuously.

A year later, the developers filed an application for the main permit covering 41 additional turbines and 18 generators. At the time the investigation was published, it had not yet been approved.

If the expansion goes through, the power plant’s capacity would be enough to supply more than 1 million homes. The potential annual pollution journalists estimated is comparable to the emissions of nearly 2 million cars.

Gas capacity for data centers approaches 40 GW

Texas already has about 300 data centers operating, with another roughly 200 under development, WIRED writes.

According to Global Energy Monitor, the state has 80.6 GW of new gas power plants listed. Nearly half of that capacity—about 40 GW—is intended for direct power supply to data centers.

Источник: Global Energy Monitor.In terms of gas power capacity, Texas trails only China in pipeline development. At the same time, some of the listed projects may not receive permits or may remain unrealized.

Analytics firm Cleanview found 59 data centers in the US with plans to build their own power plants totaling about 90 GW. As of mid-2026, only about 2 GW had been put into operation.

Floodlight reviewed documents for nine gas stations tied to data centers in Texas. Their permitted emissions could exceed 130 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. The investigation’s authors emphasized that actual emissions are usually below the maximum allowed values.

Regulator’s response

Former TCEQ employee Katherine Gerra said the agency has accumulated more than 1,400 open enforcement cases. According to her, the commission closed 39 of them over the previous year.

A TCEQ spokesperson disputed that estimate and said that in 2025 the agency carried out more than 100,000 inspections. The small number of enforcement actions by the commission was explained by a high level of compliance.

The regulator also said it issues permits only when projects meet federal and state requirements. Floodlight’s questions to TCEQ about the investigation’s conclusions were not answered.

OpenAI did not provide comment. Crusoe said building Stargate supports Abilene’s economy and helps finance upgrades to roads, schools, and fire equipment. The company promised to account for the impact of the work on local residents’ quality of life.

Recall that in December 2024, Bloomberg journalists found that the spread of AI-powered data centers could lead to problems in the US power grid.

A year later, the agency noted that the development of electric vehicles and AI increased demand for electricity: supply is short, and the grid cannot handle the growing load.