Amazon Texas Plant Permitted More CO2 Than Any US Coal Plant

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A natural-gas power plant tied to Amazon’s new West Texas data center has received a Texas permit allowing it to release up to 33 million tons of CO2, more than any coal plant in the country, according to a New York Times report published August 8th. The figures come from Cleanview, which tracks data centers and associated power projects.

The facility, called GW Ranch, sits in Pecos County and features 35 natural-gas turbines rated at a combined 7.65 gigawatts. At least initially it would not connect to Texas’s main power grid, instead routing electricity directly to Amazon’s adjacent data center. Amazon has confirmed it purchased the site and intends to buy power from GW Ranch.

Plants rarely emit at the ceiling set by their permits, but the scale of the allowance draws attention to Amazon’s climate commitments. Jeff Bezos pledged in 2019 to make the company carbon neutral by 2040, yet Amazon’s emissions have risen for several consecutive years. Spokeswoman Margaret Callahan told The Verge: “Our new planned data center campus in Pecos County is a long-term commitment that we expect will create thousands of new jobs,” adding that the plant is “designed to transition to grid-connected service as interconnection timelines allow.”

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