- SpaceX plans to build, own and operate a super-compute facility and gas-fired power plant in Starbase, with $24 billion estimated for the first phase, per a city hearing notice.
- The project would sit on a 444-acre tract east of Brownsville, and Starbase commissioners will weigh a tax abatement and development agreement at a Dec. 9 meeting.
- Self-supplied gas power is becoming the data center playbook in Texas, but incoming Gov. Gina Hinojosa’s promise to tame data center construction adds political risk.
SpaceX wants to build a $24B data center and gas-fired power plant at Starbase, Texas, Bloomberg reports, citing a public hearing notice on the city’s website.
The $24B figure covers only the first phase. SpaceX would build, own and operate both the super-compute facility and the plant.
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The Details
The site is a 444-acre tract inside Starbase’s city limits, east of Brownsville. Starbase became its own city in 2025 and houses several hundred SpaceX workers and their families.
Commissioners are due to take up a tax abatement and a development agreement on Dec. 9.
Musk’s Gas Strategy
The filing fits a pattern. SpaceX proposed its own gas pipeline in Florida in September to feed Starship rockets at Cape Canaveral, and it has hired gas traders at both Starbase and the Cape.
It also plans a gas-fired plant to power the semiconductor facility it is developing with Tesla in Grimes County, outside Houston. Power from gas is how many data center developers get online quickly, and Elon Musk wants to control that chain.
Zoom Out
Texas is already a magnet for gigawatt-scale campuses. We covered the Taylor campus that won unanimous council approval for up to 1 GW, with the city supplying 500 MW and holding an option on 500 MW more.
Financing is getting harder at the same time. Bloomberg reported in an exclusive that at least 18 data center deals in high-yield bonds and leveraged loans carry double-digit yields, which we detailed in an earlier brief.
Why It Matters
A $24B first phase would rank among the largest data center commitments in the state, and a company supplying its own gas power skips the grid interconnection queue that slows most developers.
Politics could complicate that. Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned partly on taming new data center construction, and rising power prices and environmental concerns have sparked protests in places like Memphis.
What’s Next
The Dec. 9 vote on the abatement and development agreement is the first hard checkpoint. Watch for power capacity, water and timing details.
