{"id":129197,"date":"2026-01-19T16:35:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T16:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/129197\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:35:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T16:35:23","slug":"el-pasos-controversial-gas-plant-proposal-for-metas-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/129197\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso’s Controversial Gas Plant Proposal For Meta’s Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you feel like every time you hear \u201cMeta data center\u201d there\u2019s another shoe dropping, you\u2019re not wrong. The latest twist is that El Paso Electric wants permission from the state to build an entirely new natural gas power plant <\/a>just to keep Meta\u2019s massive data center running. And for a lot of El Pasoans, that feels like a step too far.<\/p>\n

El Paso Could Get A New Power Plant<\/p>\n

Meta is building a $1.5 billion data center in Northeast El Paso. These facilities are basically giant warehouses full of servers that run things like Facebook, Instagram, and AI systems. They use an enormous amount of electricity and water, which already makes people nervous in a desert city that struggles with both.<\/p>\n

Now El Paso Electric says it needs to build a brand-new gas-powered plant, called the McCloud facility, to meet Meta\u2019s energy needs. The plant would sit right next to the data center and, if approved, could be running by 2027. It\u2019s a $473 million project, and on paper, Meta is supposed to pay for it.<\/p>\n

El Paso Electric insists this power plant would be dedicated only to Meta for the first five years. During that \u201cbridge period,\u201d Meta would get all the electricity and cover all the costs. The company says regular customers would not be paying for it.<\/p>\n

Why Would El Paso Be Upset If Meta Is Paying?<\/p>\n

Because after those five years, things could change. City leaders worry the plant could eventually be folded into El Paso Electric\u2019s normal system. That raises fears that a facility built for a tech giant could later become part of the grid everyone pays for, even if indirectly.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a bigger trust issue at play. Many residents already aren\u2019t thrilled about the data center itself. Now they\u2019re hearing Meta may power it with a private gas plant instead of the renewable energy they were initially promised. That feels like backtracking to some officials and residents alike.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.statista.com\/chart\/34295\/data-centers-electricity-generation-source\/<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.statista.com\/chart\/34295\/data-centers-electricity-generation-source\/<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the water. Data centers use staggering amounts of water for cooling, and people are asking why a private corporation should get to consume that much of a shared, limited resource. Between water for cooling and gas for power, many feel like Meta is hoarding one resource while straining others that the community depends on.<\/p>\n

What About El Paso Jobs Created By The Data Center?<\/p>\n

One of the biggest selling points for data centers is job creation, but the reality is more complicated. The overwhelming majority of jobs tied to a data center happen before it ever turns on.<\/p>\n

During construction, projects like these can employ hundreds or even thousands of workers, mostly in trades like electrical, concrete, HVAC, and infrastructure work. Those jobs matter, but they\u2019re temporary, usually lasting one to three years. Once the building is finished, most of those workers move on to the next project, often in another city or state.<\/p>\n

After construction wraps up, the number of permanent jobs drops sharply. Large data centers typically employ dozens of people, not thousands. In many cases, a massive facility only supports 20 to 100 long-term positions, including security, maintenance, and IT operations.<\/p>\n

In other words, for every permanent job that stays in the community, there can be 10 to 40 temporary construction jobs that disappear once the build is complete. That gap is a big reason why many residents question whether the long-term tradeoffs in water, power, and infrastructure are really worth it.<\/p>\n

El Paso City Council Hears Concerns, But Citizens Are Worried<\/p>\n

City Council recently voted to \u201cintervene\u201d in the state approval process. That doesn\u2019t mean the city is trying to kill the project outright. It means they want access to documents, details, and safeguards to make sure taxpayers aren\u2019t left holding the bag later.<\/p>\n

At the same time, El Paso Electric is also asking for a rate increase tied to other investments, which only adds fuel to public concern. People are worried they\u2019ll see higher bills while a global tech company gets exactly what it needs.<\/p>\n

The core frustration is simple. El Pasoans are being asked to trust that a massive corporation and a utility company will keep their promises, protect local resources, and not pass costs onto regular people. Right now, a lot of residents aren\u2019t convinced.<\/p>\n

And in a city already dealing with water main breaks, boil water notices, a series of recent electrical blackouts, and rising utility costs, patience is wearing thin.<\/p>\n

El Paso\u2019s Eastside Grows: Pizza Joint & Orange Cow Open New Locations<\/p>\n

Orange Cow Burger and The Pizza Joint are opening new Eastlake locations in El Paso, making it easier for eastside residents to enjoy local favorites.<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Iris Lopez<\/p>\n

Guns Down, Gloves Up: RT Fades Fighting Gun Violence With Boxing In El Paso<\/p>\n

Local social media page, RT Fades, has been fighting gun violence by encouraging community members to box out their problems in the ring. After being negative and violent rumors spread across news sources in El Paso, Grizz and local photographer Christian Churches decided to see for themselves what the events were really like. Los Toreados was the host for this particular weekends RT Fades event. <\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Grizz<\/p>\n

LOOK: An Inside Look at La Nube Children\u2019s Museum<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Iris Lopez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you feel like every time you hear \u201cMeta data center\u201d there\u2019s another shoe dropping, you\u2019re not wrong.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,141,142,143],"class_list":{"0":"post-129197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-el-paso","9":"tag-el-paso-headlines","10":"tag-el-paso-news","11":"tag-featured-carousel","12":"tag-include-in-newsletter","13":"tag-local-el-paso"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}