Alphabet’s Google to build “power-first” Texas data center tied to new clean generation hub

Alphabet’s Google said it is building a new data center in the Texas Panhandle as part of the Meitner Energy Center, a “power-first” infrastructure complex that pairs computing with newly built electricity generation. The project, announced June 4, 2026, calls for a data center constructed alongside dedicated power in Gray and Roberts Counties, with Google and its clean-energy partner Intersect positioning the co-location approach as a way to bring capacity online together rather than relying solely on grid expansion.

In a joint announcement, Google and Intersect said the site will be co-located with more than a gigawatt of wind, solar, and battery storage systems. They said the “majority” of electricity for the data center will come from clean energy starting on day one, while a “minority share” would be met by firming from on-site natural gas generation to support reliable operations when weather-dependent sources fluctuate.

Google said the facility will use advanced air-cooling technology to limit water consumption. The companies said that once complete, the Gray County facility will limit water use to small-scale domestic uses such as restrooms. They also pointed to broader water efforts, including a $10 million Texas Water Impact Fund described as supporting community water infrastructure and access through local projects such as leaking pipeline replacements.

The project is also framed as a local economic initiative. Intersect said it has been active in Gray and Roberts Counties since 2022 and listed support for Pampa-area education programs, including the Pampa Independent School District Career and Technical Education program, the Well STEAM and Literacy Center, and the Texas 4-H Foundation. Google said it will establish the Caprock Workforce Hub, an 800-acre managed residential facility intended to accommodate up to 3,500 workers in nearby Wheeler County during construction, with amenities described as including a basketball court and fitness center.

Google’s plan comes after a run of Texas commitments that have increasingly emphasized clean power procurement and infrastructure integration. Intersect said the Meitner Energy Center will join an earlier joint site announced in November 2025 in Haskell County, which the companies described as featuring Intersect’s Quantum Clean Energy Project, a 640 megawatt solar facility with 1.3 gigawatt-hours of storage. Intersect said Quantum will begin operations “this month,” and that the Google data center on that site recently began construction. Google also said it closed on its acquisition of Intersect in March 2026.

The Texas buildout adds to the financial backdrop of Alphabet’s accelerated spending to meet demand for AI services and models. In a June 1, 2026 filing with the SEC, Alphabet said it planned equity offerings totaling $80 billion to fund investments in AI compute infrastructure, describing the use of proceeds as including capital expenditures to scale AI infrastructure and global compute. Alphabet also cited ongoing high demand across enterprises and consumers, noting that it is expanding foundational infrastructure to support growth.

While the companies provided a framework for energy, water, and local workforce planning, they did not disclose several details that investors and regulators typically seek. Those include the data center’s planned IT load or capacity in megawatts, the number of buildings or phased commissioning dates beyond “construction,” and the total project cost. Google also did not specify how much of the power capacity will be contracted versus owned, beyond the clean-and-firming split described as “majority” and “minority.”

What to watch next is how Meitner Energy Center progresses through construction and interconnection milestones, including whether the clean generation and storage capacity is delivered on schedule to match the data center’s commissioning timeline. More broadly, analysts will likely look for how Alphabet’s AI infrastructure funding plans translate into identifiable power-and-water constrained sites like the Meitner complex across Texas and other regions. For communities in Gray and Roberts Counties, the workforce hub and water measures will also be key benchmarks as physical work ramps up.