Texas officials have hit pause on data center permitting, but one project is still advancing: Meta's $10 billion, 1-gigawatt data center in northeast El Paso. The company has already signed tax abatement agreements with El Paso and cleared regulatory hurdles, according to Inside Climate News.
El Paso Electric, the utility serving the area, only evaluated natural gas as a power source for the facility. That means a major new electricity load would be met with fossil fuel generation rather than renewable energy.
The case illustrates a broader climate concern: as data centers for AI and cloud computing multiply, utilities may default to gas to meet fast-approaching demand. Even with a state-level pause on new permits, this project continues, signaling how quickly such commitments can move ahead of clean energy planning.