Google and Intersect announced plans to build the Meitner Energy Center in Gray and Roberts Counties, Texas, combining a new Google data center with more than 1 GW of co-located wind, solar, battery storage, and firming gas generation. The project follows a “power first” strategy that brings new energy capacity online alongside the data center, helping meet demand without placing additional strain on the regional grid. The facility will become part of Google’s global infrastructure platform supporting services including Search, Gmail, Maps, Cloud, banking applications, and emergency communications systems.
The project reflects Google’s growing focus on co-locating AI and cloud infrastructure with dedicated power resources. According to the companies, the majority of the site’s electricity will come from renewable energy on day one, supplemented by on-site gas generation to maintain reliability. The development builds on Google and Intersect’s first joint Texas project announced in November 2025 in Haskell County, where the 640 MW Quantum Clean Energy Project is paired with a Google data center currently under construction. Google completed its acquisition of Intersect in March 2026.
Water conservation is a central element of the Meitner Energy Center design. The facility will use advanced air-cooling technology rather than traditional water-intensive cooling systems, limiting water consumption primarily to domestic uses. Google also highlighted its recently launched $10 million Texas Water Impact Fund, which supports local water infrastructure projects, watershed restoration efforts, and community water access initiatives throughout the state.
- New Meitner Energy Center combines a Google data center with more than 1 GW of dedicated wind, solar, battery storage, and gas generation.
- Data center will use air-cooling technology, minimizing water consumption.
- Google says it pays for 100% of the power it uses and intends to match new infrastructure with new energy capacity.
- Google is establishing the Caprock Workforce Hub, an 800-acre residential facility capable of housing up to 3,500 construction workers.
- Intersect currently manages approximately $15 billion of energy infrastructure assets in operation or under construction across the United States.
- Project follows Google’s Haskell County deployment, which pairs a data center with Intersect’s 640 MW solar and 1.3 GWh battery storage facility.
“More than just building a data center, our goal is to be a good neighbor, which starts on day one by investing in local priorities, protecting water and energy resources, and working with residents to build a strong future together,” said Andrew Hart, Regional Head of Data Center Public Affairs at Google.
🌐 Analysis
The announcement highlights a growing trend among hyperscalers to directly pair large-scale data center developments with dedicated energy infrastructure. As AI workloads drive unprecedented demand for power, major operators including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and xAI increasingly seek sites where generation capacity can be developed in parallel with computing infrastructure rather than relying solely on existing grid resources.
Google’s acquisition of Intersect earlier this year signals a deeper strategic move into vertically integrated energy development. The combination of renewable generation, battery storage, and firming gas capacity mirrors broader industry efforts to balance sustainability goals with the reliability requirements of AI training and inference clusters. The use of air cooling is also notable as hyperscalers face increasing scrutiny over water consumption in drought-prone regions, making alternative cooling architectures an increasingly important component of future data center designs.
