El Paso’s Plan to Build Power Plant for Data Center Kicks up Opposition

El Paso’s plan to build natural gas power plant for massive data center kicks up opposition

By Inside Climate News, The Texas Tribune January 26, 2026 This story is published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. EL PASO — In October 2025, local officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a 1-gigawatt, $1.5 billion data center for the tech giant Meta. El Paso Electric had previously stated that existing inf…

Plan to run El Paso data center on natural gas sparks concern

Meta’s planned data center could be El Paso’s biggest electricity user. Some residents worry that a new power plant to run it would worsen air pollution and guzzle water.

El Paso’s plan to build power plant for data center kicks up opposition

This story is published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here.EL PASO In October 2025, local officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a 1-gigawatt, $1.5 billion data center for the tech giant Meta.El Paso Electric had previously stated that existing infrastructure would support the data center and that Meta was loo…

Gas plant proposed to power data center

When it’s at peak capacity in 2029, Meta will need 1 gigawatt of power for its data center in El Paso.