Meta picked up roughly 1,039 acres of land in Northeast El Paso, Texas, for approximately $8.5 million. That’s about $8,156 per acre. The purpose: building a massive data center campus designed to scale up to 1 gigawatt of capacity, fueled by dedicated natural gas power generation.
The project started with a $1.5 billion budget when it was first disclosed in 2024. That number has since ballooned past $10 billion in total projected investment.
What Meta is actually building
The El Paso campus is designed around a 1 GW scalable infrastructure. Meta has proposed a dedicated 366 MW natural gas power plant to supply the facility, with cost estimates ranging from $473 million to $551.8 million just for the energy component.
Groundbreaking is slated for October 2025, with active construction kicking off in 2026. During the build-out phase, the project is expected to create around 1,800 construction jobs. Once operational, the campus will support approximately 100 permanent positions.
The choice of El Paso is strategic for several reasons. Texas offers a deregulated energy market and relatively cheap land, as the $8.5 million price tag demonstrates. This site marks Meta’s third Texas presence, following investments in Fort Worth and Temple.
The AI infrastructure arms race
The jump from $1.5 billion to over $10 billion in projected spending illustrates how quickly the AI infrastructure calculus is changing. What seemed like adequate capacity planning in early 2024 now looks like a down payment.
The decision to build a dedicated natural gas plant rather than relying on renewable energy or grid power is notable. The City of El Paso has raised opposition regarding the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the proposed natural gas power plant, reflecting broader tensions around energy sourcing for large-scale data center development.
What this means for investors
The $473 million to $551.8 million earmarked just for the gas plant represents a significant contract for whichever energy company lands it.
Meta essentially acquired a thousand-acre campus for $8.5 million. As more hyperscalers compete for suitable sites with access to power, water, and fiber connectivity, land prices in data-center-friendly regions could see meaningful appreciation.
For the crypto market specifically, Bitcoin miners and AI data centers are increasingly competing for the same resources: cheap electricity, large land parcels, and favorable regulatory climates. As AI facilities absorb more of the available power capacity in markets like Texas, mining operations may face higher energy costs or reduced access to the grid capacity they depend on.