SpaceX has applied for property-tax relief on the initial phases of an estimated $24 billion gas-fired power plant and computing facility in Starbase, Texas, Reuters reported on 10 November in a report published by CNA. A City of Starbase public-hearing notice sets out the proposal. The Starbase City Commission will consider the tax abatement and a related economic development agreement at a public meeting on 9 December.
Key points
- The estimated $24 billion covers initial phases; the project could expand later.
- SpaceX proposes to build, own and operate the plant and computing facility.
- The proposed site covers approximately 444 acres east of Brownsville.
- City commissioners are due to consider the incentive agreements on 9 December.
SpaceX estimates $24 billion for initial phases
The $24 billion is an estimate of capital investment in the project’s initial phases, rather than a figure for all potential construction. The notice says work could proceed in multiple phases and allow for later expansion. SpaceX proposes to construct, own and operate both the power plant and the super-compute facility. The application puts the company in line to bear the construction cost while seeking relief from local property taxes.
The city will consider two instruments: a property-tax abatement and an economic development agreement. Reuters reported that the public-hearing notice gives neither the proposed abatement’s size nor its duration. Those terms matter to the cost borne by SpaceX and the tax revenue forgone by the city, but the commission’s consideration of the agreements is still ahead.
The planned investment would rank among the largest private projects in the Rio Grande Valley, according to Reuters. That description applies to SpaceX’s estimated spending, not to an approved incentive or a completed facility. The company’s plan to own the generating plant also places power production alongside computing in the same proposed development, rather than treating electricity solely as a purchased input.
The proposed Starbase site covers 444 acres
The facilities would occupy an approximately 444-acre tract within Starbase, east of Brownsville between Boca Chica Boulevard and the Port of Brownsville, Quartz reported. The land lies in the Cameron County Enterprise Zone, which the city notice identifies as a reinvestment zone under Texas tax law. Quartz reported that the commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time on 9 December.
Starbase was incorporated in 2025 and houses several hundred SpaceX workers and their relatives. SpaceX’s rocket factory and launch site are also there. The proposed tract would put the new facilities within the city built around those operations, although the application described by Reuters concerns a power plant and computing site, not an expansion of the rocket factory.
Accounts citing a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permit application put the proposed plant at 35 natural-gas turbines with approximately 748 megawatts of output, Shattered reported. Those figures come from accounts of a permit application, rather than the city’s hearing notice.
Starpipe is scheduled for January 2027
SpaceX rents out computing capacity to Google, Anthropic and others. Its proposal to own a super-compute facility would add company-operated infrastructure to that activity. The hearing notice describes the capital investment and the proposed ownership of the facilities, while leaving the scale of the computing operation unstated, according to Reuters.
The proposal also comes as Texas’s incoming governor has called for a halt to data centre construction until protections pass. AI Affairs reported that call for a pause. At the local level, the decision scheduled for December concerns SpaceX’s requested tax treatment and development agreement, rather than approval of the full proposed investment.
SpaceX affiliate Lone Star Mineral Development has filed plans for Starpipe, an 8-mile natural-gas pipeline to Starbase. The line is intended to supply a planned facility that would turn gas into liquid methane for Starship rockets, Reuters reported. Lone Star Mineral Development has scheduled Starpipe to enter service by January 2027.
