OpenAI's flagship Stargate site was powered on fast-track permits
Stargate Abilene's gas turbines and diesel generators were approved with minor permits that require no environmental review, public notice or comment.
The power plant behind OpenAI’s first Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas, was approved without an environmental study, a public notice or a comment period, a joint investigation by Floodlight and the Texas Tribune found.
The site’s 10 gas turbines and 62 backup diesel generators were cleared through “permits by rule” and “standard permits,” minor permits the state also issues for businesses like dry cleaners. Under them, the fleet is allowed to emit up to more than 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and 1,000 tons of combined harmful air pollutants every year.
Then the bigger ask
A year after the minor permits, the developers filed for a major air permit to add 41 more turbines and 18 more generators, Floodlight reported.
The campus covers about 1,100 acres with about 4 million square feet of buildings and a 360-megawatt on-site gas plant. The plant sits about 500 yards from a neighboring ranch.
Crusoe says the turbines are for backup. They are permitted to run continuously.
Not just Abilene
Former staff at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality described a statewide pattern to the Tribune: start small, then go big. At least 38 data centers in Texas have received minor permits since 2024. Nine planned data center gas plants could together emit more than 130 million tons of greenhouse gases a year.
What the company says
OpenAI did not respond to repeated requests for comment from the Texas Tribune. Crusoe, the site's developer, said the turbines "will only be used for back up power" and that the project "contributed meaningfully to the economic development" of Abilene. Texas regulators said growth "has not compromised" their commitment to public health.
Sources
- This permit, common for dry cleaners, is now being used to build AI power plants, Floodlight, July 9, 2026
- Planned Texas data centers could emit more greenhouse gases than many countries, The Texas Tribune, July 9, 2026
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