Texas Governor Greg Abbott has indicated that the state is positioned to receive significant investments in data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Speaking at a Texas Economic Development investor summit, Abbott emphasized the importance of diversifying the state’s economy by attracting nontraditional industries.
Abbott’s comments follow recent announcements from Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank regarding their joint venture, “Project Stargate,” which plans to invest $400 billion over three years to establish AI data centers across the United States. The first Stargate campus began operations in Abilene earlier this year.
The governor suggested that additional AI-related investments could soon be announced for Texas, potentially surpassing the scale of Project Stargate. Five more Stargate centers are planned, including two in Texas—Shackleford County and Milam County—as well as sites in Lordstown, Ohio; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; and another location in the Midwest.
When completed, these facilities are expected to provide seven gigawatts of capacity for AI-related data processing. The projects are projected to create 25,000 onsite jobs along with thousands of related positions nationwide. The Abilene center alone is anticipated to consume six gigawatts of power—almost twice the daily electricity usage of the Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Texas has become a key location for data centers due to its available land and infrastructure. According to CBRE, Dallas-Fort Worth accounts for about one-tenth of the U.S. data center market, second only to Northern Virginia. However, power supply remains a major concern as demand grows. Abbott noted that Texas generates more electricity than any other state, accounting for 12 percent of national production.
Curt Holcomb, managing director for data center solutions at JLL, stated that more than a gigawatt of data center capacity is currently under construction in Dallas-Fort Worth, with an additional four gigawatts being planned.
The rising demand from data computing is expected to increase electricity needs by 7 percent this year and by 15 percent in 2026 according to estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
To address these challenges, some developers are considering integrated solutions that include on-site energy generation. Fermi Inc., a real estate investment trust co-founded by former Texas Governor Rick Perry, has proposed “Project Matador.” This initiative aims to develop a 5,000-acre advanced energy and intelligence campus on land owned by Texas Tech University. Plans call for providing up to 11 gigawatts of power from natural gas, solar, and nuclear sources by 2038.
Abbott said: “Diversifying our state economy with nontraditional industries is paramount.”
