Local organizing helps drive tenant withdrawal and stalls Project Matador
Amarillo, TX — Today, community activists and local organizers celebrate a significant victory as major financial backing for the proposed Project Matador data center, an 11-gigawatt AI infrastructure campus planned in West Texas, has fallen through after a prospective tenant withdrew a $150 million funding commitment. The identity of the company has not been revealed publicly but potential tenants could include corporations such as Oracle, AWS, and/or Palantir.
News about the withdrawal was reported on Friday, with the Financial Times noting that “shares in data center real estate group Fermi almost halved after the company said its first tenant had terminated an agreement to help fund a massive artificial intelligence campus in West Texas.”
Weeks ago Fermi revealed at a city council meeting they were in talks with Palantir in relation to developing the project. Separately, Bloomberg reporting on Friday revealed Oracle recently delayed the completion of a number of data center projects.
While investors react to this setback, local organizers and community members see this as a meaningful example of grassroots power shaping the future of land use, water and infrastructure in Amarillo.
“Fermi America losing a $150 million dollar investment from its first tenant signals that investors and other prospective clients are starting to realize what our community has known for some time now. This is an inexperienced and unproven company that should not be trusted with anyone’s investments let alone our community’s natural resources. This news reinforces that community voices matter and when people come together, we can stop projects that don’t reflect our values or protect our resources.” said Chase Brady, Organizer with Panhandle 1st Coalition.
Project Matador, led by Fermi America and co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, if built out, would be one of the largest data center campuses in the United States. However, opposition from farmers, ranchers, and community members around sustainable water use, environmental impacts, and local control has helped fuel public pressure to stop the project. If the AI bubble does ultimately pop, it’s crucial we do not allow the US government to use our tax payer dollars to save the big AI corporations.
Local community groups organized protests, public comment campaigns, and educational outreach to highlight the potential consequences of the development, particularly around water consumption from the already strained Ogallala Aquifer.
“If in fact Oracle or Palantir dropped out as a prospective tenant, this is a warning sign for the entire data center and AI infrastructure industry that communities will continue to fight to halt these projects. Across the country, people are organizing against data centers that increase their utilities costs, siphon their water supply and take over their land. This moment shows that data centers are not inevitable.” said Danny Cendejas, Campaign Specialist at MediaJustice.
While Fermi continues to pursue other lease negotiations and remains confident about the project’s future, the recent tenant withdrawal underscores the increasing influence of community engagement and opposition in shaping large-scale infrastructure decisions.
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Panhandle 1st Coalition is fighting to stop Fermi America’s Project Matador.
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