El Paso Electric only considered gas to power $10 billion Meta data center

Construction continues on Meta's $10 billion, 1-gigawatt data center in northeast El Paso, Texas, despite a statewide pause on data center permitting by Texas officials. The project, which had already secured tax abatements and began construction, faces a hurdle in gaining approval for El Paso Electric's application to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) to build a 366-megawatt natural gas facility.

Administrative law judges for the PUCT recently issued a proposed decision recommending conditional approval, or outright denial, of El Paso Electric's application. They found that the utility failed to adequately consider alternative power sources and did not issue a request for proposals to contractors for the McCloud gas facility, which is estimated to cost $499 million. The judges conditioned approval on El Paso Electric not passing capital and operating costs onto ratepayers, noting that a Meta subsidiary, Wurldwide, drove the selection process and timeline.

Local groups, such as the Sembrando Esperanza Coalition, have submitted over 1,000 comments protesting the application, citing concerns about increased air pollution, strain on water resources, and potential electricity rate hikes for El Paso residents. The ultimate decision is pending a vote by the five PUCT commissioners. Separately, Gov. Greg Abbott's order to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to pause issuing permits for data center projects does not impact Meta's El Paso data center, as it is located outside the ERCOT grid and has already obtained an air permit for the power facility.