Overview
- Microsoft publicly announced plans for a roughly 2‑gigawatt class AI data center in Pecos, Texas paired with a privately built gas‑fired power plant to serve its heavy, steady electricity needs.
- Chevron has committed to supply natural gas and most of the plant’s gas turbines under a 20‑year contract that company statements say will insulate the price from normal market swings.
- Combustion is targeted to begin in 2028 and the plant is planned to expand stepwise to about 2.67 gigawatts of capacity, with additional turbines to come from Solar Turbines, a Caterpillar subsidiary.
- Microsoft says the plant will use non‑potable groundwater for plant cooling and that the data center will start with fresh‑water cooling before shifting to a closed‑loop reuse system to cut ongoing water use.
- The project is at the public‑announcement stage with permitting, regulatory review, community impact assessments and formal grid‑interconnection plans still to be completed, and it could change local electricity markets and raise environmental questions.