Amazon Acquires 8,000-Acre Texas Site for Behind-the-Meter Natural Gas-Powered Data Center

Amazon has acquired an 8,000-acre plot of land in Pecos, Texas, where it plans to develop a data center campus powered by what could become the largest natural gas power plant in the United States. The move underscores the growing reliance of hyperscale cloud providers on on-site fossil-fuel generation to meet the surging electricity demands of AI-driven computing infrastructure.

According to reporting from Cleanview, the company purchased the GW Ranch site from Pacifico Energy, a developer that had already secured a 7.65GW air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the project. The natural gas plant is expected to comprise 35 turbines, delivering up to 7.65GW of generating capacity, a scale that would make it the largest facility of its kind in the country if fully built out.

Amazon confirmed the acquisition following reports earlier this month that it had filed three construction permits with the state, outlining plans to build three data center buildings with construction expected to begin immediately. The company also stated its intention to purchase power generation from the site, which is designed to operate behind the meter, meaning it will supply electricity directly to the data center without relying on the traditional grid connection.

"Amazon believes in paying the full costs of powering our operations," a company spokesperson said in a statement. "Our new planned data center campus in Pecos County does just that: it's powered by new on-site generation that won't raise electricity costs for Texas families and designed to transition to grid-connected service as interconnection timelines allow."

The off-grid power project was first announced last year and is expected to combine natural gas generation with 1.8GW of battery storage and 750MW of solar, creating a standalone energy platform intended to support multi-phase data center deployments. This hybrid approach reflects a broader industry trend in which hyperscalers are increasingly turning to self-built power infrastructure to bypass grid interconnection delays and secure reliable, round-the-clock electricity for energy-intensive AI workloads.

The Pecos acquisition follows reports that Amazon has been exploring the development of a data center at a natural gas plant outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, Microsoft also announced plans for a 2GW development in Pecos, Texas, powered by a 2.67GW natural gas plant, signaling that the region is becoming a focal point for large-scale, gas-backed data center projects.

Industry analysts note that the shift toward behind-the-meter natural gas generation reflects a pragmatic response to the limitations of the current grid, which in many regions cannot accommodate the rapid buildout of high-density AI data centers. While the approach raises questions about carbon emissions and long-term sustainability, it offers a near-term path to speed-to-power that many operators see as essential to maintaining competitive deployment timelines. As more hyperscalers pursue similar strategies, the interplay between energy infrastructure and data center development is likely to become an even more defining feature of the industry's growth trajectory.