Amazon's 7.65 GW Pecos Plant Was Cited Against the 765 kV Lines

Amazon confirmed this month that it bought the GW Ranch site in Pecos County and plans a data-center campus on on-site gas. Nameplate on the air permit is up to 7.65 gigawatts across 35 turbines. At the Public Utility Commission of Texas open meeting on August 14, Val Verde County Commissioner Kerr Wardlaw used that announcement to tell the commissioners the 765 kV lines are not needed.

Watch the comment block (our remux, 23 minutes): youtube.com/watch?v=VS2WPrmFtqc.

Wardlaw's line is an argument from a county commissioner whose precinct sits on proposed routes. It is not a Commission finding. Amazon's own statement still points at a later grid hookup.

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What Commissioner Wardlaw put on the record

Wardlaw spoke at 14:13. He said he had been told the lines were for Permian load, then that they were to "spawn the birth of data centers across the state." He said his talk changed this week:

> Amazon is gonna build a data center in the Pecos area and they have just announced that they are going to make their own power and it will be gas powered. That proves that the transmission lines are not being put in for the data centers but it also proves that the Permian Basin is not needing the power in the same way. They can also make their own power the same as the Amazon data center will in the Pecos area. It completely cancels out the need of the 765s.

He asked the Commission to pause, matching what senators and representatives had already asked that morning.

What Amazon actually confirmed

Cleanview reported on August 7 that Amazon confirmed the GW Ranch acquisition. Data Center Dynamics followed on August 10. The site is about 8,000 acres. Pacifico Energy already held the TCEQ air permit. The permit lists 35 turbines and up to 7.65 GW nameplate. The same file describes a lower nominal delivered output, about 5 GW. Land clearing was visible on satellite imagery in late July. Amazon filed TDLR construction permits for three buildings.

Amazon's statement, quoted by both outlets:

> Our new planned data center campus in Pecos County does just that: it's powered by new on-site generation that won't raise electricity costs for Texas families and designed to transition to grid-connected service as interconnection timelines allow.

Amazon is building private generation so the campus can energize before a queue date. It also said the campus is designed to move onto the grid when interconnection allows. That is not a filing against the Permian Basin Reliability Plan. It is a tenant solving its own in-service date.

The company also said it is exploring on-site solar and batteries, and that it will use water that is not suitable for drinking or irrigation, including a look at produced water.

The legislators asked for a pause first

Senator Kevin Sparks (District 31) opened public comment at 02:27. He spoke as senator and as CEO of Discovery Operating. He said the Permian is short of round-the-clock power, that local gas-fired baseload can match that load, and that the 765 kV lines would socialize "tens of billions" into residential transmission fees and permanently cut the value of tens of thousands of acres. He asked the Commission to pause and work with the legislature on ERCOT market signals before condemning land.

Representative Brad Buckley (District 54) said at 06:18 that House Bill 5066 did not contemplate 765 kV lines. He pointed to the July 29 Senate Business and Commerce hearing and to a September 2024 letter from the primary bill author asking for legislative and stakeholder oversight before any 765 kV deployment. In Bell County alone he put more than 1,400 parcels and more than 2,000 owners on less than 30 days' notice before the intervention deadline. He asked the Commission to deny the CCN applications.

Representative Shelby Slawson (District 59) said when HB 5066 was on the House floor, "never did we hear about 765 transmission lines." She said the first legislative hearing on the lines was a Senate committee the week before. She also asked for denial.

No commissioner asked a follow-up question that made the transcript.

What this does not settle

Wardlaw is right that a large West Texas campus can show up with its own gas plant. Amazon confirmed that. He is not right that one off-grid campus "cancels" a multi-county 765 kV CCN docket. The lines were noticed as a Permian reliability plan, not as an Amazon service drop. Amazon itself left the door open to a later interconnection.

The live question at PUCT is still the one the legislators put first: whether HB 5066 authorized this voltage and this process, and whether the Commission pauses the CCNs for the next session.

Sources

1. PUCT Open Meeting, August 14, 2026, public comment on 765 kV CCN applications. Our remux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS2WPrmFtqc. Wardlaw at 14:13; Senator Sparks at 02:27; Representative Buckley at 06:18; Representative Slawson at 10:49.
2. Michael Thomas, Cleanview, "Scoop: Amazon Is Behind One of the Largest Planned Gas Power Plants in the US," August 7, 2026. newsletter.cleanview.co/p/scoop-amazon-is-behind-one-of-the. Amazon confirmation; 35 turbines; up to 7.65 GW nameplate / ~5 GW nominal; initially off-grid; 33 million ton CO2 permit ceiling.
3. Zachary Skidmore, Data Center Dynamics, "Amazon acquires 8,000-acre site in Pecos, Texas, for natural gas powered behind-the-meter data center," August 10, 2026. datacenterdynamics.com. 8,000 acres; Amazon statement; TDLR building permits.
4. New York Times, August 8, 2026, Amazon Pecos / GW Ranch reporting (secondary confirmation of the same confirmation).