“[Data center operators’] we believe that the value delivered by servers far outweighs the costs of constantly operating these inefficient power plants,” says Koomey.
Gas projects developed as part of Project Stargate, a massive multi-company artificial intelligence effort that was originally launched to build infrastructure for OpenAI, also represent a potential carbon bomb on WIRED’s list. Stargate campuses are being built in multiple states, including Texas, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin. Permitting documents for just three natural gas projects linked to Stargate – one to power a data center campus near the project’s headquarters in Abilene, Texas, and two to power Project Jupiter at the New Mexico campus – show they have a combined potential to emit more than 24 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.
“We are committed to protecting payers while building the infrastructure needed for American AI leadership,” OpenAI spokesman Aaron McLear said in a statement. “Where natural gas is needed to provide reliable energy in the near future, we are working with partners to leverage modern, efficient generation while helping to accelerate clean energy and grid modernization.”
Oracle spokeswoman Julia Allyn Fishel told WIRED that a “modification” is currently underway to Project Jupiter “that is expected to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” The company did not provide new emissions estimates, which the New Mexico Department of the Environment has not yet made public.
“Oracle is committed to self-funding energy costs by implementing the best energy solutions for every community, so that our AI data centers do not impact ratepayer bills and electric grid reliability,” Fishel said in a statement.
The fourth gas plant at Stargate’s main campus in Abilene has the potential to produce more than 7.8 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, according to application documents. This power plant is being built by Crusoe for Microsoft’s employ. Companies announced in tardy March, Crusoe will be constructing fresh buildings on the Abilene campus, including a power plant, to support Microsoft’s artificial intelligence infrastructure. (Microsoft declined to comment.)
There are projects with an even larger potential carbon footprint than Stargate. Outside of Amarillo, Texas, White House darling Fermi is building what President Donald J. Trump calls the Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus, a data center campus with a target capacity of 17 gigawatts. Fermi continues to emphasize the use of so-called “tidy” natural gas. However, the documents show that the maximum emissions of both gas projects combined could amount to over 40.3 million tons of CO2 equivalents per year, more than the annual emissions of all energy sources in the state of Connecticut.
About five hours south of Amarillo, near the town of Fort Stockton, Pacifico Energy is expanding claims is the largest single energy project in the country: a 7.2-gigawatt data center campus powered by a gas project that could emit more than 33 million tons of greenhouse gases annually. (Pacifico did not respond to a request for comment.)