A troubling trend is unfolding in Texas: data center developers, including giants like Stargate, are actively using simplified permitting procedures to build their own power plants. This scheme allows them to avoid public environmental discussions and community oversight, raising serious questions about transparency and compliance with environmental regulations.
The key problem lies in the fact that large pollution sources require an individual permit with mandatory environmental review and notification of residents. However, the simplified procedure, originally intended for standard and small facilities, allows companies to approve individual turbines and generators much faster — without public hearings. According to my analysis, since 2024, at least 38 data centers have received approval for their own generation under this simplified scheme.
The case of the Vantage data center near San Antonio is particularly telling. It received a permit for 99.8 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions per year — just 0.2 tons below the 100-ton threshold that triggers mandatory public procedures. This is not a coincidence but a systemic practice. Former employees of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) describe the approach with the formula "start small, then go big": companies split a single project into several small applications and then combine the installations into an industrial power plant.
Stargate: A Symbol of Environmental Ambivalence
The central example of this practice is the Stargate project in Abilene — an infrastructure initiative by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle with announced investments of up to $500 billion. In 2024, developers received simplified permits for 10 gas turbines and 62 backup diesel generators. According to documents, this equipment is capable of emitting over 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and about 1,000 tons of other pollutants per year. Notably, a representative of developer Crusoe claims the turbines will only be used for backup power, although the current permits allow for their continuous operation.
A year later, the company applied for a main permit for 41 additional turbines and 18 generators. If implemented, the power plant's capacity would be enough to supply over 1 million homes, and the potential annual pollution would be comparable to the emissions of nearly 2 million cars. This clearly demonstrates how large-scale projects are disguised as "small" expansions.
Gas Capacity Under Question
The scale of the problem is enormous. About 300 data centers are already operating in Texas, with roughly another 200 in development. According to Global Energy Monitor, 80.6 GW of new gas-fired power plants have been announced in the state, nearly half of which (40 GW) are intended for direct power supply to data centers. The analytical firm Cleanview identified 59 data centers in the U.S. with plans to build their own power plants with a total capacity of about 90 GW — but as of mid-2026, only about 2 GW had been brought into operation.
My expert analysis shows that this situation creates enormous risks for the power grid and the environment. Floodlight reviewed documents from nine gas plants associated with data centers and found that their permitted emissions could exceed 130 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. Although actual emissions are usually lower than the maximum allowable, the very fact of such planning is alarming.
Former TCEQ employee Kathryn Guerra notes that the agency has accumulated over 1,400 unresolved enforcement cases, while in the previous year, the commission completed only 39 of them. The regulator, in turn, claims that in 2025 it conducted over 100,000 inspections and attributes the small number of enforcement actions to a high level of compliance. However, TCEQ did not respond to specific questions about the investigation's findings.
My professional opinion: This situation is a vivid example of how tech giants, in their pursuit of scaling and rapid deployment of AI infrastructure, knowingly or negligently bypass environmental regulations. Simplified procedures, originally created for small businesses, have turned into a loophole for megaprojects. If regulators do not tighten oversight and force companies to combine interconnected parts of projects into single applications, we risk facing an environmental catastrophe on a statewide scale. The market must understand: behind the rapid growth of data centers lies not only economic benefit but also a hidden environmental cost that may prove too high.