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Even at the end of the quest to create a gas generator that could power every home in Abilene more than 20 times, Stargate’s designers started small on paper. In 2024, they obtained permission to use the energy sources at the site through sub-permits called “permit by rule” and “regular permits.”
These permits, known to be used by low-level polluters across the country, do not require environmental studies, public notices, or public comment periods.
Bruce Buckheit, a former aviation director at the EPA who served in several Republican administrations, says that federal agencies use permitting systems “for small, high-volume projects,” such as gas stations or refineries, so that they “don’t waste time reinventing the wheel.”
But Stargate is “no ordinary thing,” he says. Under the smaller permits, Stargate’s fleet of 10 turbines and 62 diesel storage generators are allowed to emit more than 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases and 1,000 tons of greenhouse gases each year. Although they are allowed to be used continuously, the Stargate’s creator, Crusoe, tells Floodlight that the turbines will only be used as backup power.
“Usually the license and the law were created and used when the user wanted a backup generator or three backup generators.” When you get to 62, you start thinking, ‘Okay, wait a minute, maybe the scale is wrong here,'” says Buckheit.
Stargate is not alone. Starting in 2024, at least 38 data centers in Texas will receive small permits to use electricity on site, according to Floodlight’s analysis. As a result, Texas regulators quietly approved the use of more than 2,100 diesel generators across the state.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality did not respond to specific questions about Floodlight’s findings. Instead, the representative wrote that “TCEQ only issues aircraft permits that comply with applicable federal and state laws and regulations, including public participation requirements.”
