Solar and Wind

Wind and solar for AI campuses · West Texas and the Panhandle · Flagship: Goodnight wind and Crusoe campus, Armstrong County

West Texas and the Panhandle produce more wind and solar power than their lines can carry out, so data centers are moving to the generation. At Goodnight in Armstrong County, a Crusoe campus for Google shares one grid meter with a 265.5 MW wind farm, the first such arrangement approved under Texas's 2025 large-load law.

Goodnight campus in Armstrong County, Texas: two Crusoe data center loads of 265 and 260 MW share one ERCOT connection and meter with the 265.5 MW Goodnight 1 wind farm, with Goodnight 2 under construction, gas and batteries planned for off-grid buildings, and ERCOT able to cut the load in 30 minutes; plus ERCOT wind and solar capacity factors GOODNIGHT CAMPUS, ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PANHANDLE GOODNIGHT 1 WIND265.5 MW, operating GOODNIGHT 2 WIND265.5 MW, building ONE ERCOTCONNECTIONAND METER CRUSOE LOAD ONE265 MW; PUCT April 2026 CRUSOE LOAD TWO260 MW; PUCT July 2026 Load netted against wind GAS, 933 MW (APPLICATION)20 LM6000-class turbines, off-grid BATTERIESSize not disclosed; ~1 GW, estimate ERCOT CAN CUT 525.5 MW IN 30 MINUTES, WITHOUT PAY, IN TRANSMISSION EMERGENCIES. USER: GOOGLE. TERMS REVIEWED 36-60 MONTHS AFTER THE ORDER. ERCOT CAPACITY FACTOR, 2025 Wind31.6% Solar23.8% Solar at net peak1.7% A 24/7 LOAD NEEDS BATTERIES, GAS OR THE GRID BEHIND THE WIND.
Wind-linked load
525.5 MW
Goodnight wind
531 MW with phase 2
ERCOT wind
About 40 GW
Wind curtailed, 2025
About 4.7%
Hub
Energy

Goodnight

A Data Center Behind a Wind Farm's Meter

  • Arrangement: Crusoe's Load Two (260 MW) sits behind the single ERCOT connection of the 265.5 MW Goodnight 1 wind farm; the two share one settlement meter, so data center use is netted against wind output. Load One (265 MW) won approval in April 2026. Crusoe says surplus wind flows to the grid.
  • Regulatory first: the July 2026 order was the first net-metering case under Texas SB 6. ERCOT can order the full 525.5 MW off within 30 minutes in a transmission emergency, without pay, with 60 minutes' notice when practicable; the load is barred from demand-response and ancillary-service programs. The PUCT rejected Crusoe's argument that a 525.5 MW obligation against 265.5 MW of wind double-counted.
  • Buyer: Google holds the wind contract and is the campus user; Crusoe sold Load Two to Ensign Infrastructure in March 2026.
  • More wind: Goodnight 2, another 265.5 MW, is under construction.
  • Not wind-only: a January 2026 air permit application covers 933 MW from 20 LM6000-class gas turbines for off-grid buildings, and county filings add batteries. Google says it has no contract for the gas power.
  • Status: more than 5,500 workers on site; first phase targeted for 2027.

Why West Texas

Stranded Wind Pulls Data Centers West

  • Capacity: ERCOT has about 40 GW of wind, which supplied 22.4% of its power in 2025, and roughly 35 GW of solar (estimate), with about 14 GW more solar planned for 2026.
  • Curtailment: about 4.7% of wind and 6% of solar output was curtailed in 2025; the West zone alone curtailed 3.1 TWh of wind and 2.2 TWh of solar in 2024 and had the most negative-price intervals of any zone. Panhandle export limits are a named constraint.
  • The logic: a load placed behind a wind farm's connection uses energy the lines cannot carry out, without new long-distance transmission; ERCOT found no stranded transmission assets at Goodnight.
  • Transmission: the CREZ lines finished in 2013 carry West Texas and Panhandle wind east; Oncor plans a 765 kV line through Nolan County for 2028-2029, about $4B.

Other campuses

Wind- and Solar-Linked AI Campuses in West Texas

AI campuses in the West Texas and Panhandle wind and solar belt
CampusLoadGenerationArrangementStatus
Google Haskell (Homebound Journey)Haskell CountyNot disclosedIntersect Quantum: 640 MW solar plus 1.3 GWh storageCo-located; metering not disclosedSolar operating June 2026; data center due 2027
Google Meitner Energy CenterGray and Roberts countiesNot disclosedMore than 1 GW of wind, solar and storage, with gas for firmingCo-located, dedicated powerConstruction began June 2026
Soluna DorothyBriscoe County, PanhandleDorothy 3 planned at 300+Briscoe Wind, 150 MW, bought for $53MOne owner holds wind farm and data centerWind farm acquired April 2026
Stargate AbileneTaylor CountyAbout 1.2 GW plannedNo contracted wind or solar found; 360 MW onsite gasGrid connectionOperating and expanding
IREN SweetwaterNolan County2 GW connection; 300 MW under constructionNo wind contract foundGrid; the local wind belt helps only through ERCOTSubstation energized May 2026; in ERCOT's first large-load study
Galaxy HeliosDickens County1.6 GW approved; CoreWeave leases 800 MWNo direct wind or solar contract foundGridFirst phase due 2026; delivery not confirmed

The Sweetwater wind belt in Nolan County draws campuses for its grid connections and transmission, but none found there contracts directly with a local wind farm.

Firming

Wind and Solar Need a Partner for 24/7 Load

  • Capacity factors: 31.6% for ERCOT wind and 23.8% for solar in 2025; at the daily net peak, solar delivered 1.7% of its capacity.
  • Every flagship firms: Goodnight with gas and batteries, Meitner with gas, Haskell with 1.3 GWh of storage, Stargate Abilene with 360 MW of gas. See Battery Storage and Onsite Gas.
  • Hyperscaler contracts: Google has 6.2 GW of Texas power purchase agreements (November 2025); Meta more than 1.3 GW through ENGIE; 2026 deals include Google 500 MW, Meta 180 MW and Microsoft 120 MW of Texas solar.
  • Tax credits: under the July 2025 law, wind and solar must have started construction by July 4, 2026 or be in service by the end of 2027 to keep federal credits. E3 expects only about 7 GW of new ERCOT wind by 2030, which favors projects already running or started, like Goodnight 2 and Quantum.

Record

Dataset Record

Dataset
Wind- and solar-linked AI campuses in West Texas and the Panhandle
Sources
PUCT Dockets 58881 and 59220, ERCOT, Potomac Economics, Crusoe, Google, Intersect, IREN, Soluna, Cleanview, E3, White & Case, Latitude Media, POWER, Modo Energy, Jones Day
Last verified
October 2026