Beacon Data Centers Plans 275MW Campus on California Oil Field with Behind-the-Meter Power
June 24, 2026
Beacon Data Centers Plans 275MW Campus on California Oil Field with Behind-the-Meter Power
Canadian data center developer Beacon Data Centers has unveiled plans for a major behind-the-meter campus in Kern County, California, marking a significant move to repurpose energy infrastructure from the oil and gas sector for digital infrastructure. The project, named the Golden Valley Technology Hub, will be developed on the Elk Hills Oil Field in partnership with California Resources Corporation (CRC), an oil and gas firm that operates the site.
The campus is designed to deliver 275MW of capacity across 400,000 sq ft of data center space on a 100-acre site. It will include an on-site substation and employ a closed-loop liquid cooling system to minimize water usage. Power will be supplied primarily by CRC’s existing 550MW Elk Hills Power Plant, a natural gas facility that began operations in 2003, with utility grid connections serving as backup alongside fifteen 2.5MW diesel generators. Timelines for construction have not yet been disclosed.
“Located within the Elk Hills Oil Field, the project is designed to pair next-generation computing infrastructure with dedicated power from CRC's existing facilities and advanced closed-loop cooling technology that significantly reduces water use,” Beacon said in a statement. The Elk Hills Field, one of the largest oil fields in the United States, spans 75 square miles and has produced over 2 billion barrels of oil since its discovery in 1911. CRC, a spin-off of Occidental Petroleum, acquired the site in 2018.
Beacon, launched quietly in March 2023 by investment firm Nadia Partners, claims its portfolio now includes more than ten campuses in development representing 6GW of planned capacity. Projects are underway in Alberta and New Brunswick, Canada, as well as in Texas, Kern County and Calvert, Alabama, and Ohio. The company’s partnership with CRC comes as oil and gas operators increasingly explore data center development as a way to monetize existing energy assets. CRC, which operates 68 oil fields and 22,000 wells, first signaled its intent to evaluate data center sites last year, telling investors it was focused on finding customers to offtake power from the Elk Hills plant. CRC CEO Francisco Leon previously mentioned working with an unnamed “leading data center developer” in a March earnings call, and also discussed the potential for the company to host up to 2GW of data center capacity.
The project underscores a broader trend where behind-the-meter power arrangements are gaining traction in the data center industry, particularly in regions where grid capacity is constrained. By co-locating data centers with existing power plants, developers can bypass lengthy grid interconnection queues and secure reliable, dedicated energy. For CRC, the deal represents a strategic shift toward diversifying revenue streams beyond oil and gas, while also supporting carbon capture solutions at its fields. As demand for AI and cloud computing continues to surge, such partnerships between energy producers and data center operators are expected to become more common.
Source: datacenterdynamics
