Amazon's off-grid data centre could become America's biggest polluter

Regulatory filings show the Pecos County, Texas gas plant backing Amazon's new data centre campus is permitted to emit 33 million tons of CO2 a year, which would make it the single largest source of climate pollution in the United States, according to the New York Times. The plant runs 35 gas turbines generating 7.65 gigawatts, entirely off the public grid. Amazon says the arrangement won't raise electricity costs for Texas households, because it isn't drawing on shared capacity at all. That's the shift underway: hyperscalers no longer wait for utilities to build power for them. Amazon's total emissions already rose 16% last year to 80.85 million tons CO2e as data-centre expansion outpaced every efficiency gain the company has booked.