Crusoe Abilene Expansion data center, Abilene, Texas

Crusoe is building a 900 megawatt AI data center campus for Microsoft in Abilene, Taylor County, Texas, next to its existing campus, which would bring the whole Abilene site to about 2.1 gigawatts of power. Crusoe announced the project on March 27, 2026, and said land clearing was already under way, with the first of two buildings expected to be energized in mid-2027. The company plans to power both buildings with a 900 megawatt on-site gas plant paired with battery storage.

In August 2026 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave preliminary approval to expedited air permits for an expanded power plant on the campus, and neighbors began getting notices listing pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. The watchdog group Oil & Gas Watch says the application would take the plant from 10 gas turbines to 49, with an estimated 11,862 people living within three miles. State Rep. Stan Lambert asked TCEQ for an in-person public meeting in Abilene, and the agency agreed, extending the comment period until the meeting ends.

Rents around Abilene have doubled and tripled as the AI boom has grown, and at a September Chamber of Commerce panel, resident Molly Cedillo held a sign reading "No More Backroom Data Center Deals." Taylor County commissioners gave the earlier Stargate campus a 20-year property tax abatement, and Judge Phil Crowley said abatements are the only way counties get any authority over the projects: "I understand abatements are unpopular, but if people want counties that have control over data centers, you have to have an abatement."

The next public step is the TCEQ meeting on the power plant permits, which the agency must announce 30 days ahead; comments can be filed until the meeting ends, under permit numbers 182126, PSDTX1688 and GHGPSDTX263.