Cleanview- Developer / Operator: Meta (via subsidiary Wurldwide LLC)
- Power Partner: El Paso Electric (utility); Enchanted Rock (generation facility builder/operator)
- Location: Northeast El Paso, Texas
- Total Planned Capacity: 1 GW (by 2028)
- Grid Strategy: Hybrid; initial 220 MW from El Paso Electric's existing grid resources, plus a dedicated 366 MW natural gas generation facility built by Enchanted Rock
- Status: Data center under construction (ground broken October 2025); generation facility targeting 2027
Background
Meta's El Paso data center is the company's third in Texas, joining existing facilities in Fort Worth and Temple. Meta acquired the 1,039-acre site from the city of El Paso in late 2023 for $8.5 million. The El Paso City Council approved an incentive package for the project that same month.
The project has scaled rapidly. When Meta broke ground in October 2025, the initial investment was $1.5 billion for a 1.2-million-square-foot first phase. By March 2026, Meta's VP of data center development Gary Demasi announced at the Borderplex Alliance summit that the total investment had grown to $10 billion, with the campus scaling to 1 GW of capacity by 2028. In April 2026, Meta filed plans for 12 additional buildings totaling 25.9 million square feet, served by 6 customer-owned substations. The design firm is Stantec, with JE Dunn Construction and Hensel Phelps as general contractors.
Power Strategy
The power arrangement at El Paso is distinctive. Rather than building its own behind-the-meter generation directly (as it is doing in Ohio), Meta is working through its local utility, El Paso Electric, which in turn contracted with Enchanted Rock to build a dedicated gas plant.
Grid power. The first 220 MW will come from El Paso Electric's existing generation resources. El Paso Electric developed a special electricity rate for the data center designed to recover the full cost of service from Meta. As CEO Kelly Tomblin explained, "The data center's first 220 megawatts will come from existing resources, and Meta will fund the next 220 through new energy infrastructure."
McCloud generation facility. Beyond that initial grid supply, El Paso Electric and Meta explored options for quickly adding dedicated capacity. According to PUC filings, large-scale solar would have required thousands of acres not available adjacent to the site, and larger-frame gas turbines would have taken up to 3 years to procure. The solution is McCloud, a 366 MW facility on 31 acres adjacent to the data center campus.
McCloud will use 813 modular natural gas generators, each producing a peak capacity of 450 kW, built and operated by Enchanted Rock. The estimated cost is $473 million, making it the largest facility Enchanted Rock has ever built and more than twice the $217 million El Paso Electric spent on its 228 MW Newman 6 unit. El Paso Electric told the PUC that the Enchanted Rock facility would produce electricity at an average cost of $41.70 per MWh, compared to $22.54/MWh for the Newman 6 unit and $26.75/MWh for its Far East El Paso and Sunland Park plants.
Cost structure and ratepayer concerns. For the first 1 to 5 years ("bridge period"), Meta will pay the full cost of the McCloud facility, with no rate impact on other customers. After that, El Paso Electric told the PUC it plans to "incorporate the cost of the facility into its total jurisdictional cost of service and retail rates," shifting the plant's cost to all customers, pending PUC approval. This has drawn scrutiny from the El Paso City Council, which filed a motion to intervene in the PUC proceeding in January 2026.
Construction Progress
As of May 6, 2026, satellite imagery shows foundations laid for three data center buildings, with vertical construction started on two and roof construction beginning on one. No power generation equipment is visible at the site.
Generation Equipment
- Enchanted Rock modular gas generators: 813 units at 450 kW each, 366 MW total
- Grid supply: 220 MW from El Paso Electric's existing resources
- Combined initial capacity: 586 MW
- Target campus capacity: 1 GW by 2028
Key Partners
- El Paso Electric: Utility partner, rate designer, CCN applicant
- Enchanted Rock: McCloud facility builder and operator ($473M)
- Meta (Wurldwide LLC): Data center owner/operator
- JE Dunn Construction / Hensel Phelps: General contractors
- Stantec: Design firm
Timeline
- December 2023: Meta purchases 1,039-acre site for $8.5 million; City Council approves incentive package
- October 2025: Ground broken; initial investment $1.5 billion
- December 2025: El Paso Electric files McCloud CCN application with PUC
- January 2026: El Paso City Council files motion to intervene in PUC proceeding
- March 2026: Meta announces $10 billion total investment, 1 GW target by 2028
- April 2026: Meta files for 12 additional buildings (25.9M sq ft)
- May 2026: Foundations for 3 buildings; vertical construction on 2; no generation equipment visible
- 2027 (target): McCloud generation facility operational (pending PUC approval)
- 2028 (target): Data center operational at 1 GW