Microsoft is building a roughly 2-gigawatt data center campus in Pecos, Texas - one of the biggest single capacity adds in its history. The multibillion-dollar project runs five to seven years, with over 6,000 construction jobs at peak and hundreds of permanent roles, according to cloud chief Noelle Walsh. A gas plant on site, funded by Microsoft, will feed the campus off the public grid. The company claims closed-loop cooling will keep total lifecycle water use to "only a fraction of that consumed annually by a typical fast-food restaurant."

In an open letter to Pecos and Reeves County, Microsoft says it won't drive up local power prices, will put back more water than it uses, and will hear out residents early. Those are the exact pain points that have turned towns against data centers: higher electric bills and water use. According to Data Center Watch, dozens of projects got killed in 2026, often with bipartisan opposition.

The power grid can't keep up with demand, so Microsoft and its rivals are building their own plants instead of waiting years for a hookup. For Pecos, Chevron will supply gas turbines. The site should be running by around 2028.