Amazon's Texas gas plant could be America's biggest polluter

This article was published on August 9, 2026 The gas plant powering it is permitted for 33 million tons of CO2 a year, roughly double the current worst offender. Off-grid is the part that should worry regulators. Amazon has confirmed it is investing in a large natural gas plant to power a data centre in Pecos County, Texas, a facility the New York Times reports could become the largest single source of climate pollution in the United States. Permits allow the plant to release 33 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. For scale, the dirtiest power plant currently operating in America is the coal-fired James H. Miller Jr. plant in Quinton, Alabama, at around 16 million tons. Amazon’s project is permitted for roughly double that. The plant, known as GW Ranch and developed by Pacifico Energy, would run 35 gas turbines for a combined 7.65 gigawatts. Amazon acquired the site and will buy power directly from the facility. Permitted capacity is not the same as actual output, and plants rarely emit their maximum. Even well below the ceiling, this one has ample room to exceed America’s current worst emitter. The plant will not initially connect to the wider electricity grid. That is not inci