The first data center in the Stargate project—a $500 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure initiative backed by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank—is being built in a surprising location: Abilene.
The data center is set to cost $1.1 billion, and, to hear local officials say it, Abilene and its 130,000 residents have just struck gold. “It will impact the rest of the economy—our restaurants, our homebuilders—with that many new people coming in and taking these jobs,” Mayor Weldon Hurt has said.
What few headlines mention, however, is the project’s most troubling feature: a $500 million on-site natural gas plant that will power the data center—and pollute the surrounding community. When it comes to the Stargate data center and power plant in Abilene, the economic impacts are overstated, and the health effects are under-acknowledged. We must push for cleaner energy alternatives before Abilene’s residents feel the consequences.
Much of the Stargate project’s local support stems from its promise to bring jobs to a region that has long been considered part of small-town Texas. And while the economic potential of the Stargate project has understandably generated excitement, the long-term benefits may be far more limited than promised. Building a data center requires a lot of labor, but maintaining one does not—which explains why, despite the 1,500 people currently working on construction, the project has only promised 357 permanent positions. Undeniably, the over 100,000 jobs that OpenAI promised for the overall Stargate project seems fantastical.
Meanwhile, Crusoe, the developer of the data center, has been granted an 85 percent property tax break on billions of dollars of infrastructure—causing Abilene to forgo an enormous amount of potential revenue. Effectively, Abilene has traded its property tax profits away for job creation promises that will likely fall well short of expectations.
Worse yet, after they realize that the promise of job opportunities won’t materialize, Abilene residents will be left with the lasting burden of pollution from the power plant. The on-site natural gas power plant has been authorized to emit 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and 14 tons of hazardous air pollutants per year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, pollutants emitted from power plants can have serious environmental and health consequences.
What makes Abilene’s case especially concerning is how close the plant will be to where people live. Densely populated neighborhoods are less than two miles away, and some homes and buildings are within half a mile. Living so close to a natural gas plant has been shown to have tangible impacts on population health. A 15-year study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that people living near a power plant experience an 11 percent increase in asthma rates, a 15 percent increase in acute respiratory infections, and a 17 percent increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for residents in the same ZIP code.
Despite these risks, given Abilene’s relative isolation from major economic development, local and state officials are excited to see just about any large-scale investment. Governor Greg Abbott praised the construction, declaring that “Texas is the home of innovation.”
In their excitement, officials appear too willing to make costly sacrifices. “We kind of [have to] scratch and fight for everything good that comes our way,” former city manager Robert Hanna said, justifying the property tax break granted to the data center. But that “scratch and fight” should not require Abilene to trade away its tax revenue and, most importantly, the health of its residents.
Looking back, it’s no surprise that OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank decided to build the first Stargate data center and power plant in Abilene. They needed a semi-rural community where pushback would be limited. They needed local political support in a city where environmental concerns don’t sway decision-making. They needed their permits approved in a Texas regulatory environment where energy investment historically has overshadowed concerns about community health.
If this natural gas plant proceeds, Abilenians could face increased risks of asthma, lung infections, and other respiratory diseases. While permits for the natural gas plant have already been approved, the fight is far from over. Regulators still have the authority to require stricter emissions controls, mandate independent environmental reviews and audits, and increase clean energy quotas for the data center.
Most importantly, the public—especially Abilene’s own residents—deserve to know the full health impacts of the natural gas plant being built in their community.
They have the right to decide how much they are willing to give up for 357 promised jobs.
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