Amazon is investing in the construction of a natural gas plant in West Texas that could become one of the largest individual sources of greenhouse gases in the United States, reported The New York Times.
The plant, located in Pecos County, Texas, will have 35 natural gas turbines and capacity of 7.65 gigawatts, initially without connection to the state's power grid, supplying energy directly to the company's new data center.
According to Cleanview, which monitors data centers and associated energy projects, the venture called GW Ranch received a license from Texas allowing the emission of up to 33 million tons of CO2, more than the largest coal plant in the country. Plants rarely emit as much as permitted, but the permit indicates lax pollution restrictions.
Amazon confirmed it bought the site and plans to purchase energy from GW Ranch.
Companies like Meta and Google have also started building their own power plants, resorting to gas, coal and other non-renewable sources amid rising demand from artificial intelligence data centers. The Trump administration sought to ease restrictions for these polluting plants.
Even if GW Ranch emits only a portion of the permitted gases, the project would represent a setback for Amazon's Climate Pledge. Jeff Bezos committed to making the company carbon neutral by 2040, but the company's emissions have been rising for several years due to AI demand. Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan said: 'The world is different now than when we co-founded the climate pledge,' and said 'our commitment has not changed.'
