Pacifico Energy Secures Record 7.65GW Air Permit for Texas Data Center Power Project

Pacifico Energy Secures Record 7.65GW Air Permit for Texas Data Center Power Project January 27, 2026 In a significant move to address the surging power demands of artificial intelligence and hyperscale computing, Pacifico Energy has obtained a major regulatory approval for its massive GW Ranch power generation project in West Texas. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has granted the company a 7.65-gigawatt air permit, which the developer claims is the largest power generation permit ever issued in the United States. The permit authorizes the construction and operation of gas-fired generation facilities at the planned private-grid campus. The GW Ranch project, announced last year, is slated for an 8,000-acre site in Pecos County and is purpose-built to support large-scale data center deployments. According to Pacifico, the integrated energy platform will combine 7.65GW of natural gas capacity with 1.8GW of battery energy storage and 750MWac of solar generation, creating a standalone power source for multi-phase data center development. The first phase of the project is designed to deliver 1GW of capacity, with initial power generation expected in the first half of 2027. The company emphasized that its private-grid model is intended to avoid adding strain to the public Texas electricity grid, which is facing rapidly rising demand from data centers. The project's location provides strategic access to the Permian Basin, a key natural gas-producing region. In 2024, natural gas production across the Permian rose by 12 percent year-over-year, accounting for 22 percent of total U.S. marketed production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This development underscores a broader industry trend where large-scale, off-grid power solutions are becoming critical enablers for data center expansion, particularly for energy-intensive AI workloads. By securing such a substantial permit, Pacifico Energy positions its GW Ranch project as a foundational piece of infrastructure aimed at attracting major technology tenants to West Texas. Source: datacenterdynamics