{"id":100489,"date":"2026-07-09T15:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/100489\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:45:10","slug":"this-permit-common-for-dry-cleaners-is-now-being-used-to-build-ai-power-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/100489\/","title":{"rendered":"This permit, common for dry cleaners, is now being used to build AI power plants"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by Floodlight<\/a> and Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Omaira Garcia didn\u2019t realize life on her small ranch in Abilene was about to change forever until clouds of dust \u2014 kicked up by a mysterious construction next door \u2014 began to engulf her home.<\/p>\n

The Air Force veteran said she was never told about OpenAI\u2019s plans to build its flagship \u201cStargate\u201d data center directly beside her property until well after construction began in the summer of 2024. Now, the site\u2019s large-scale power plant sits roughly 500 yards from her house \u2014 the exhaust stacks of gas-powered turbines clearly visible from her kitchen window.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t given any time to understand what this impact was going to be on us,\u201d the mother of two said through tears. \u201cWe\u2019re trapped here.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Stargate\u2019s developer, Crusoe, told Floodlight that the data center has \u201ccontributed meaningfully to the economic development\u201d of Abilene, and its investments are \u201cfunding new fire trucks, school expansions, and road improvements across the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia\u2019s situation isn\u2019t unique: Data centers like Stargate, along with their accompanying power plants, are proliferating across the country, helping to satisfy an immense demand for artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

And despite lofty promises to fuel data centers with renewable energy, data shows AI companies are mostly relying on gas to satisfy their insatiable energy demands. Nationwide, nearly 60 data centers are planning to build their own gas plants to avoid connecting to the grid, according to research<\/a> by energy analytics firm Cleanview released last month.<\/p>\n

Including Stargate\u2019s Abilene campus, at least 15 gas plants tied to data centers are planned for Texas, according to Cleanview. Available permits reviewed by Floodlight show that nine of them combined could emit more than 130 million tons of greenhouse gases every year. That\u2019s the equivalent annual emissions of 35 coal-fired power plants, according to an Environmental Protection Agency calculator<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While actual emissions are usually lower than estimates, the impact on the climate could still be enormous: If completed, these nine plants have the potential to emit more annual greenhouse gases than most countries do \u2014 even if emissions end up being half of what\u2019s permitted.<\/p>\n

In Abilene, Stargate\u2019s developers have already built 10 gas-powered turbines and 62 backup diesel generators and want to add 41 more turbines and 18 more generators to the sprawling site. If approved, the expansion would make Stargate one of the largest fossil fuel power plants in the state \u2014 capable of powering more than 1 million homes and emitting more annual greenhouse gases than nearly 2 million cars.<\/p>\n

On paper, Stargate\u2019s Abilene campus started out small, but through a permitting loophole identified by Floodlight, it was able to quietly construct massive power sources with little-to-no public notice.<\/p>\n

Dozens of Texas data centers have obtained these minor air permits \u2014 which avoid public scrutiny and extensive environmental reviews and are more commonly associated with dry cleaners and auto body shops. In several cases, data centers secured these permits before seeking massive expansions later on, deploying a \u201csmall first, big later\u201d strategy that watchdogs say limits public input and creates unstoppable momentum for their projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this should have been rolled into one permit,\u201d said Bruce Buckheit, a former air enforcement chief for the EPA who served under multiple Republican administrations, when briefed on Stargate\u2019s expansion plan.<\/p>\n

These minor permits \u2014 as well as the nondisclosure agreements<\/a> many developers require in their dealings with local governments and residents \u2014 are how communities like Garcia\u2019s are left stunned when exhaust stacks pop up in their backyards.<\/p>\n

Texas on Track to Lead U.S. in Data Centers<\/p>\n

Stargate was first announced in January 2025 as part of a $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to construct hyperscale AI data centers across the country.<\/p>\n

“It’s big money and high-quality people,” President Donald Trump said at the time. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called it \u201cthe most important project of this era.\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction was already well underway in Abilene. The 1,100-acre campus, along with its 360 megawatt on-site gas plant, were among the first hyperscale AI data centers to break ground in Texas. A wave of similar proposals has since made the state ground zero for the AI-driven build-out of fossil fuel power plants across the US.<\/p>\n

With roughly 300 operational data centers and 200 more in development, Texas is expected to surpass Virginia as the nation\u2019s leading data center market by 2030. Lured by prolific gas reserves and an industry-friendly government, AI companies have flocked to Texas in droves and begun erecting a \u201cshadow grid\u201d of custom-built power plants capable of fueling entire cities.<\/p>\n

For example: Meta\u2019s data center in El Paso plans to rely on a new 366 MW gas plant; Chevron is planning a 2.5 GW\u20135 GW natural gas-fired power complex in the Permian Basin exclusively meant to power data centers; and Pacifico\u2019s GW Ranch in Pecos County was recently granted the country\u2019s largest air pollution permit, allowing emissions of up to 33 million tons per year of greenhouse gases \u2014 equal to nearly 5% of Canada\u2019s total annual greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Overall, Texas has put more than 80 GW of new gas power plants into its construction pipeline, more than any country besides China. Roughly half of that capacity will provide power exclusively to data centers according to a report from Global Energy Monitor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou haven\u2019t seen anything like that since the fracking boom,\u201d said Jenny Martos, who authored the report. She described the trend as \u201cenormous\u201d and said it risks \u201clocking in fossil fuel for the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cbring your own power\u201d strategy once thought of as a novel approach embodied by Elon Musk\u2019s controversial data centers<\/a> in Tennessee and Mississippi has now gone mainstream, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Texas.<\/p>\n

Minor Permits Lead to Major Construction Projects<\/p>\n

In 2024, Stargate\u2019s developers secured permission to operate 10 gas-powered turbines and 62 backup diesel generators through minor permits known as \u201cpermits by rule\u201d and \u201cstandard permits.\u201d Under the minor permits, Stargate\u2019s fleet of turbines and generators are currently allowed to emit more than 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and 1,000 tons of combined harmful air pollutants every year. Despite being permitted for continuous use, Stargate\u2019s developer, Crusoe, told Floodlight that the turbines will only be used for back up power.<\/p>\n

Widely understood to be used by low-level polluters across the country, these permits don\u2019t require environmental studies, public notice or public comment periods, according to experts like Kathryn Guerra, who spent nearly four years at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before joining the watchdog group Public Citizen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose lower level permits get granted very quickly and often without the public knowing,\u201d Guerra said \u2014 and \u201cthat feels pretty intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buckheit, the former EPA air enforcement chief, agreed.<\/p>\n

State agencies typically use the permit by rule process \u201cfor small things that happen a lot,\u201d like gas stations or dry cleaners, so \u201cthey don\u2019t have to waste their time reinventing the wheel for common stuff,\u201d Buckheit said.<\/p>\n

But Stargate \u201cisn\u2019t common stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally that permit by rule was conceived of and implemented in a case where an operator wanted a backup generator or three backup generators. When you get to 62, you start thinking, \u2018Well, wait a minute, maybe the scale is wrong here,\u2019\u201d Buckheit said.<\/p>\n

Since 2024, at least 38 data centers across Texas have received minor permits to operate on-site power sources, according to a Floodlight analysis. As a result, Texas regulators quietly sanctioned the use of more than 2,100 backup diesel generators across the state.<\/p>\n

While intended for emergency power, the generators are also routinely operated for testing and maintenance, according to their permits. Operating data center backup diesel generators for less than an hour per week, on average, creates the same public health impact as five large scale gas-fired power plants, according to an analysis by Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Washington.<\/p>\n

Taken together, the thousands of new generators identified by Floodlight in Texas are permitted to emit nearly 2,500 tons of nitrogen oxides into Texas communities every year \u2014 more than triple the state\u2019s newest coal-fired power plant. (Nitrogen oxides are highly toxic gasses associated with severe respiratory illness and even premature death.)<\/p>\n

In the small town of Whitney, a data center owned by Cyrus One got the permit to operate hundreds of generators that the company estimates will emit 249.1 tons of nitrous oxides every year \u2014 just shy of the 250 tons-per-year limit that would have triggered more stringent permitting.<\/p>\n

Outside of San Antonio, a Vantage data center received permission to emit 99.8 tons per year of the gas \u2014 barely below the area\u2019s 100 ton-per-year threshold.<\/p>\n

In fact, more than half of the data centers identified by Floodlight provided regulators with annual nitrogen oxide emission estimates that were just shy of thresholds that would require public input and more detailed environmental reviews.<\/p>\n

In several cases, data centers secured minor permits to begin construction before seeking massive expansions later on.<\/p>\n

After initially obtaining minor permits for 22 diesel generators at its San Antonio location, Vantage is now seeking to operate more than 80 diesel generators at the data center.<\/p>\n

In Abilene, Stargate\u2019s developers applied for a major air permit the year after securing a minor one as they sought to more than quadruple the number of gas powered turbines located on the campus.<\/p>\n

Buckheit said Stargate\u2019s staggered permitting approach could violate EPA \u201caggregation\u201d policies, which are intended to evaluate the whole project. The agency\u2019s own handbooks refer to minor permits that precede major ones as \u201csham permits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can’t come in with a permit application for two [turbines], and then three months later, you come in with a permit application for two more,\u201d Buckheit said.<\/p>\n

Former TCEQ veteran James Doty suspects the move was likely intentional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sincerely doubt that the company made some last-minute decision to suddenly expand,\u201d said Doty, who spent nearly 30 years at TCEQ. \u201cThey’re trying to get their foot in the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

The massive emissions estimates associated with Stargate\u2019s expansion have forced its developers to apply for a major permit that requires the additional turbines to be equipped with the most effective emissions reduction technology available and triggers extensive environmental reviews and upcoming public comment periods. But nearly two years after construction began on the project, it may be too late for local residents to do anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a data center gets its operating permit, it’s too late,\u201d Doty said. \u201cThe only chance to stop something like this is to do it at the very, very, very beginning of the process \u2014 before the permit is issued \u2014 through the public participation process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doty and Guerra, both former TCEQ staffers, recommend concerned residents pay close attention to notices from state environmental agencies to spot incoming projects and request contested case hearings when possible.<\/p>\n

Few of those avenues remain viable for Abilene residents. Guerra believes \u201cit\u2019s a foregone conclusion\u201d that the expansion request will be granted.<\/p>\n

Can State Regulators Keep Up With Data Centers?<\/p>\n

Even if Stargate secures more appropriate permits, both former TCEQ staffers doubt the agency is properly equipped to enforce them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe data center industry is expanding at a rate that is beyond the capability\u201d of TCEQ to sufficiently regulate, Guerra said, adding that the agency\u2019s enforcement backlog consists of more than 1,400 cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past year, they were able to resolve 39 of those 1,400 cases. At that rate, it’s going to take them 35 years to resolve all of them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single permit that this agency issues, in my opinion, is one more than they can effectively regulate,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

An agency spokesperson refuted Guerra\u2019s claims, writing that \u201cindustry growth has not compromised TCEQ\u2019s commitment to fulfill its mission of protecting public health and the environment.\u201d The representative wrote that TCEQ had conducted more than 100,000 investigations in 2025 and claimed that the low number of enforcement actions taken by the regulator \u201creflects high overall compliance rates\u201d rather than \u201ca lack of enforcement activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guerra said that TCEQ is \u201cfull of folks who are very interested in protecting the environment,\u201d but leadership has made the agency notoriously lax on enforcement.<\/p>\n

The policies may be drawing investments for the state, but those gains aren\u2019t being felt by some fenceline residents in Abilene.<\/p>\n

Worries About the Future<\/p>\n

Garcia and her husband spent more than a year looking for their \u201cpiece of heaven\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took so much time to get it, and my kids absolutely love it. But under these conditions, we no longer have that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In addition to concerns about air pollution, Garcia said the data center has transformed the quality of life on her once-quiet country road. Trash regularly lines the fences and gridlock traffic has sometimes made it difficult to leave her own driveway.<\/p>\n

Crusoe wrote that the company takes \u201cquality-of-life concerns seriously\u201d and is committed \u201cto being a responsible neighbor throughout construction and operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet despite prominently featuring in a Floodlight\/PBS short documentary<\/a> on the topic \u2014 viewed millions of times \u2014 Garcia said Stargate\u2019s developers have yet to reach out to her or her family.<\/p>\n

Garcia\u2019s nextdoor neighbor, Paul Daniel, said his family has lived in the area for more than 200 years, and he has been living in his current home for 44 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving here and having to deal with this, you can lose the value of your property,\u201d the 81-year-old retiree said. Like Garcia, he said he didn\u2019t know the data center was coming until it was too late to sell the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were never advised or anything,\u201d Daniel said. As a result, he said the home he had planned to leave for his children has been seriously devalued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t have a legacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Garcia says she wasn\u2019t made aware of Stargate\u2019s recent expansion plans until Floodlight informed her of the pending major air permit applications. Already coping with the presence of 10 gas-powered turbines beside her property, the plan for 41 more came as a gut punch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t even begin to understand what kind of impact that’s going to have on me and my health in the future,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She tried to put the house on the market after learning about what was being built next door, but said she didn\u2019t get a single offer. Realtors suggested she convert it into an Airbnb for Stargate workers but Garcia said she can\u2019t afford to buy another home to live in while keeping the one beside the data center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels almost impossible unless Stargate purchases it, because what other homeowner is going to want to deal with what we’re dealing with?\u201d<\/p>\n

The dilemma has left her feeling helpless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know what the future looks like.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was originally published by Floodlight and Texas Tribune. Omaira Garcia didn\u2019t realize life on her small…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,1471,25,52309,39,23014,106],"class_list":["post-100489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artifical-intelligence","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-data-center-development","tag-data-centers","tag-emissions","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}