SpaceX said Thursday that it will spend more than $74 billion on two AI supercompute campuses, more than $24 billion at Starbase, Texas, and about $50 billion in Cochise County, Arizona. The Starbase plant is described as off-grid, but its state air registration was still listed as pending at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) as of Nov. 12, while a statewide data center permit freeze is in effect. Both campuses reach local hearings on Dec. 9, at 4 p.m. ET in Arizona and 8 p.m. ET in Texas, according to Cochise County hearing coverage and a Starbase hearing notice report.

Readers who want to weigh the announcement should know what each headline claim leaves out. "Off-grid" does not mean unregulated, and "dry cooling" does not mean no water footprint. Both claims come from SpaceX, and the numbers below show where each one stops.

Starbase Gas Plant Still Needs Texas Air Registration Despite Off-Grid Label

The Starbase site covers 444 acres and would run its own gas-fired power plant instead of drawing on the public grid. SpaceX filed a registration with TCEQ on Sept. 8 under the state's standard permit for electric generating units, a streamlined, pre-written permit. The filing lists 35 temporary turbines totaling about 748 megawatts, to be followed by eight GE Vernova 7E turbines totaling about 708 megawatts, according to The 956 Report. The two configurations are alternatives, not additions.

Gov. Greg Abbott's Sept. 21 directive expanded a data center permitting pause. Law firm Bracewell's analysis says the pause applies to islanded facilities, the category that "off-grid" describes, but adds that it is unclear how the order affects TCEQ general and standard permits. The advocacy group Public Citizen has questioned whether the directive clearly covers behind-the-meter gas plants.

Proposed Nitrogen Oxide Cap Sits 1.14 Tons Below Federal Major-Source Line

The registration proposes a nitrogen oxide limit of 248.86 tons per year. For source categories not specifically listed, the federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration program treats a new source at 250 tons per year as a major source, which brings tougher review, so the proposed cap sits 1.14 tons under that line. The 956 Report also found that emissions during startups and shutdowns are not counted toward the caps, and the filing allows 50 startup and shutdown events per turbine per year.

The 956 Report's own arithmetic shows why the margin matters. At the standard permit's emission rate, running all 35 turbines at full output for a year would produce roughly 458 tons of nitrogen oxide, according to the outlet's calculation. That is the outlet's math, not a TCEQ finding. It does suggest that the 248.86-ton cap would limit how hard the plant could run, or rely on operating conditions the filing does not count.

SpaceX has faced permit scrutiny over gas turbines before. Under an agreed order with Mississippi regulators, SpaceXAI has until July 2027 to remove all 69 temporary turbines at its Southaven site, and House Democrats have demanded records.

Does Dry Cooling Use More Electricity Than Water Cooling?

Yes, generally. The Cochise County application, filed by Tombstone Resources as SU26-22, covers about 747 acres and up to 6 gigawatts of load, which KJZZ reported would be roughly six times Project Blue near Tucson, across nine buildings. A summary of the application describes a design that is dry-cooled with no cooling towers, using about 7 to 10 acre-feet of water a year, and Baxtel reported a 24-gigawatt-hour battery with 90 megawatts of gas backup. KJZZ separately reported 3 million to 5 million gallons to fill the cooling system once.

Dry coolers reject heat to air instead of evaporating water, so they save water on site and spend more electricity on fans. Researchers Zahidur Talukder, Shaolei Ren, Mohammad A. Islam and colleagues found that dry cooling shifts water impact offsite to the power plants that supply a campus, with substantial reductions at low facility overhead. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, summarizing Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory data, put indirect water use at 12 times direct use in 2023. That estimate excludes behind-the-meter power.

So the claim of no planned industrial groundwater use describes the campus fence line, not the full water footprint. SpaceX has not published the supply mix for the 6-gigawatt load, so indirect water cannot yet be estimated for this site.

Bill-Reduction Claim and Job Figures Come From SpaceX

SpaceX says the Arizona campus could lower electric bills for co-op members by up to 20% and that it will transfer $3.6 billion of transmission upgrades to the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) at no cost. Riley Trettel, who leads SpaceX's energy and supercomputer development, said SpaceX is "paying for everything" at the campus.

The bill claim is a company figure, and no independent analysis of it has been found. Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC), which serves about 42,500 members, expects to file a rate case in fall 2027, according to KJZZ. Job figures also differ: Reuters reported the company's figure of about 5,500 Arizona construction jobs, while Baxtel, reporting on the Nov. 4 community meeting, put the figure at about 3,000.

Cochise Petition Draws 2,400 Signatures Ahead of Planning Hearing

Hundreds of residents attended the Nov. 4 community meeting, many carrying protest signs, according to Baxtel. A petition against the project has grown to about 2,400 signatures, according to Reuters. A petition is not a vote. The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission will hold its public hearing Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Arizona time (4 p.m. ET). Reuters described it as a public hearing, and accounts differ on whether the commission's action that day is final or can be appealed to the county Board of Supervisors.

Starbase Commission Takes Up Tax Abatement With Two SpaceX Employees on Panel

The City of Starbase commission will take up a tax abatement and development agreement on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. Central (8 p.m. ET), and neither agreement has been approved. Two of its three commissioners are SpaceX employees, according to Common Dreams, which cites Politico. That meeting concerns local tax treatment. It does not decide the TCEQ air registration.

Texas Permit Politics: Abbott's Freeze, Hinojosa's Moratorium Pledge

Abbott paused new data center grid-connection approvals on Aug. 3 Batch Zero pause and extended the pause to environmental permitting on Sept. 21, with grid officials hoping to file audit reports by Dec. 10, according to earlier TechTimes freeze coverage. Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa has pledged a moratorium on data center approvals until the Legislature passes protections. She takes office Jan. 19.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is SpaceX building its data centers?

SpaceX plans one campus at Starbase in Cameron County, Texas, and one in Cochise County, Arizona, for a combined investment of more than $74 billion.

Does off-grid power mean SpaceX needs no state permit?

No. The Starbase gas plant needs a TCEQ registration, which was still pending as of Nov. 12. Bracewell's analysis says Abbott's pause applies to islanded facilities, though it is unclear how it affects standard permits.

How much water will the Arizona campus use?

The application summary lists 7 to 10 acre-feet a year on site. That excludes the water used at power plants that supply its electricity, which research puts at about 12 times direct use for data centers on average.

What will the Dec. 9 hearings decide?

Starbase's commission will take up a tax abatement and development agreement, and Cochise County's planning commission will hold a public hearing on the special use application. Neither meeting decides the Starbase air registration, which belongs to TCEQ.