Meta El Paso Data Center

Meta's El Paso data center, internally called Project Seafox, is a $10 billion build in northeast El Paso that scales to about 1 gigawatt by 2028. At roughly 1,000 acres and 1.2 million square feet, it is Meta's 29th data center, with construction starting in November 2025.

The contradictions stack up. To power it, El Paso Electric proposes the McCloud plant, 366 megawatts from 813 modular gas engines, in a city that gets more than 300 days of sun a year. Meta pays the full cost during a bridge period of up to five years, after which the plant folds into the utility and costs can shift to all ratepayers. Meta counters that it will add clean energy to the Texas grid and match its use, but the gas plant is what physically runs the site.

Water is the deepest concern. El Paso overpumps its aquifer many times over, and the project is permitted for up to 1.5 million gallons a day of potable water because reclaimed supply was not available. The city granted an 80 percent property-tax abatement for about 25 years, and in June 2026 the council rejected canceling the deal, citing up to $1 billion in legal liability.