Prometheus Hyperscale Plans 1.5 GW Behind-the-Meter AI Campus in Texas
Key takeaways
- Prometheus Hyperscale and Istmo Energy have announced a data-center campus in Reeves County, Texas, designed for 1.5 GW of compute capacity in Phase 1 and a later path to 2.5 GW.
- The proposal pairs behind-the-meter generation with pipeline natural gas and ethane from Istmo's co-located fractionation facility.
- First power is targeted for 2027 through modular construction. That target does not mean the entire 1.5 GW first phase will be online in 2027.
- Custom-built facilities could be added from 2028, but the companies have not published a completion date for Phase 1 or the potential 2.5 GW buildout.
- The announced closed-loop cooling system would avoid drawing from or discharging to local water supplies.
What Prometheus and Istmo announced
Prometheus Hyperscale and Istmo Energy announced plans on August 20, 2026, to jointly develop the Pecos campus in Reeves County. The companies describe Phase 1 as 1.5 GW of data-hall or compute capacity, with a defined path to 2.5 GW.
Those figures describe the campus design and its expansion potential. They are not a statement that all 1.5 GW is financed, contracted or scheduled to arrive at once. The announcement says first power is targeted for 2027 using modular data-center construction and that custom-built facilities could join the modular units in 2028.
A behind-the-meter power strategy
The planned campus would generate power on site rather than wait for a grid interconnection or transmission upgrade. Its dual-fuel design would use pipeline natural gas and ethane supplied by Istmo's co-located fractionation facility.
Prometheus and Istmo say the two fuel pathways are intended to reduce dependence on a single source. That is a design claim from the developers, not proof of operating reliability: the project still has to secure fuel, generation equipment, permits, customers and a workable construction schedule.
Behind-the-meter also does not necessarily mean permanently disconnected from the grid. The project announcement leaves open the possibility of future tenant-directed grid connectivity. The practical distinction is that initial development is not presented as waiting for an ERCOT connection.
The timeline, without the misleading shortcut
| Milestone | Announced timing | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| First modular capacity receives power | Targeted for 2027 | Initial service, not full Phase 1 |
| Custom-built facilities | Option from 2028 | May be combined with modular units |
| Phase 1 design capacity | 1.5 GW | No full-build completion date announced |
| Longer-term campus path | Up to 2.5 GW | No delivery date announced |
Industry reporting has also described a possible 100–150 MW initial delivery in 2027 if a customer commits on the developer's stated schedule. That narrower figure is more consistent with a staged launch than treating 2027 as the completion year for the whole first phase.
Cooling and local water
The companies say the campus will use closed-loop cooling that recirculates its cooling solution internally. Their announcement describes the system as non-evaporative and says it would neither draw from nor discharge to local water supplies.
That is a meaningful design commitment for a West Texas project, but operating data will matter once equipment is selected and deployed. Until then, the water claim remains a stated project specification rather than a measured result.
Why the ERCOT queue matters
The proposal arrives while Texas is scrutinizing an unusually large queue of projects seeking grid connections. In August, the governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to audit data centers moving through the interconnection process. The state said ERCOT was considering more than 474 GW of connection requests and that roughly 90% of the new requests came from data centers.
Prometheus's proposed on-site generation directly addresses the waiting-time problem behind that queue. It does not eliminate the separate execution risks of building and operating utility-scale generation beside a hyperscale computing campus.
What to watch next
The most important evidence will be commercial and physical rather than promotional: a named tenant, firm equipment orders, permits, construction milestones and a disclosed schedule for successive capacity blocks. Until those arrive, the accurate reading is straightforward: Pecos is a large, specific proposal with a 2027 first-power target, not a completed 1.5 GW campus or a guaranteed 2.5 GW buildout.
Sources
This article was researched and fact-checked against the following sources:
- Prometheus’ 1.5 GW Texas Data Center Plan Tests Private Power (datacenterknowledge.com)
- Prometheus' Ambitious 1.5 GW Pecos Plan: A Bold Test for Private Power Initiatives - DediRock (dedirock.com)
- Prometheus Hyperscale partners with Istmo to develop up to 2.5GW gas powered data center in Reeves County, Texas - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)
- Prometheus Bets on Gas to Bypass the Texas Grid, PLOT Daily | AI for CRE (aiforcrecollective.com)
- USA Top 10 AI Data Center Projects 2026 – Capacity, Investment, EPC Contractors & Construction Status - DMC EDUCATION (dmc-education.com)
- Prometheus Hyperscale and Istmo Energy Partner to Develop Data Center Campus in West Texas (prometheushyperscale.com)
