ABILENE, TEXAS — Construction of the Stargate data center, developed by Crusoe for a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, began in summer 2024 next to Omaira Garcia's ranch in Abilene, Texas. Developers secured permission to operate on-site power sources through minor permits issued in 2024 and now seek to expand the campus with additional turbines and generators.

The Stargate campus in Abilene covers 1,100 acres and includes a 360-megawatt onsite gas plant. The center operates 10 gas-powered turbines and 62 backup diesel generators. Under the minor permits, the turbines and generators are allowed to emit more than 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and 1,000 tons of combined harmful air pollutants annually.

The natural-gas-powered electrical plant at the Stargate site is located approximately 500 yards from Omaira Garcia's house. Garcia, an Air Force veteran, said she was not given time to understand the impact of the data center. "We weren't given any time to understand what this impact was going to be on us," Garcia said. "We're trapped here."

The minor permits used by Stargate are known as "permits by rule" and "standard permits." These permits do not require environmental studies, public notice, or public comment periods. Kathryn Guerra, a former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality employee, said, "Those lower-level permits get granted very quickly and often without the public knowing."

Stargate developers want to add 41 more turbines and 18 more backup diesel generators to the Abilene site. Bruce Buckheit, a former EPA air enforcement chief, said, "All of this should have been rolled into one permit."

Why It Matters

The construction of the Stargate data center is part of a larger trend in Texas, which is projected to become the nation's leading data center market by 2030. Approximately 300 data centers are currently operating in Texas, with an additional 200 in development. Since 2024, at least 38 data centers across the state have received minor permits to operate onsite power sources.

Texas has put more than 80 gigawatts of new gas plants into its construction pipeline, with roughly half of this new capacity reserved for data centers. At least 15 gas plants tied to data centers are planned in Texas. Nine of these planned gas plants could collectively emit more than 130 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, according to permit reviews. This volume is equivalent to the annual emissions of 35 coal-fired power plants, based on an Environmental Protection Agency calculator. More than 2,100 backup diesel generators have been sanctioned for use across Texas, permitted to emit nearly 2,500 tons of nitrogen oxides annually, more than triple the emissions of the state's newest coal-fired power plant.