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SpaceX Wants a Tax Break for a $24 Billion Gas Plant and "Super-Compute Facility" in Starbase

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$24 billion. 444 acres. One public hearing on Dec. 9.


That is what a one-page notice posted Friday by the City of Starbase lays out. It says SpaceX "proposes to construct, own, and operate a gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility" inside Starbase city limits. It also says the city commission will consider giving the company a property tax break for it.


Credit: Gateway to Mars (gatewaytomars.com) first reported the notice on Nov. 6, 2026 and published the PDF with its highlights. The 956 Report got the same notice, read it line by line and checked it against state law and earlier records. The quotes below come straight from the city's notice.


Nothing has been approved.


WHAT THE NOTICE SAYS (CONFIRMED FROM THE DOCUMENT)


Public notice titled Notice of Public Hearing for City of Starbase, Texas, about SpaceX tax abatement and power plant plan.

The applicant: "Space Exploration Technologies Corp., a Texas corporation ('SpaceX')." SpaceX is both the property owner and the applicant.


The project: "a gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility." That is the entire description. The notice gives no other detail about what the plant or the computers would be.


Starbase city notice infographic: $24 billion SpaceX gas power plant and supercomputer site in Texas, with hearing notice text.

The cost: "Estimated capital investment for initial phases of the project is approximately $24 billion, which may be constructed over multiple phases and include future expansions." The $24 billion covers only the first phases. The notice does not put a number on what comes after.


The site: "an approximately 444-acre tract just east of the City of Brownsville, between Boca Chica Blvd and the Port of Brownsville," inside Starbase city limits in Cameron County. The notice names it as Cameron County Property ID# 171887. Gateway to Mars did not report that ID number. It gives readers a way to look up the parcel in appraisal district records.


The tax deals: The commission will consider two agreements.

1. A property tax abatement agreement under Chapter 312 of the Texas Tax Code.

2. A "related economic development agreement" under Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code.


These are separate tools. A Chapter 312 abatement exempts some or all of the new property value from city taxes for a set time. A Chapter 380 agreement lets a city give grants, loans or other help for economic development. The notice does not say what the Chapter 380 deal would include.


The tax zone: The notice says the project falls in the Cameron County Enterprise Zone. It says that under Texas Tax Code Section 312.2011, an enterprise zone counts as a reinvestment zone for abatement purposes. State law supports this. Section 312.2011 says an enterprise zone designation counts as a reinvestment zone designation with no further hearing needed. In practice, Starbase does not need to hold a separate hearing to create a new zone before it votes on the abatement.


The hearing: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2026, at 48491 State Highway 4, Starbase, Texas 78521. The notice says "Interested persons are invited to attend the meeting and to be heard on the proposed agreements."


The legal basis for the notice: The notice cites Texas Tax Code Section 312.207(d) and the Texas Open Meetings Act (Chapter 551, Government Code). Lawmakers added Section 312.207(d) in 2019 through House Bill 3143. It requires notice at least 30 days before the meeting. The notice also has to include the owner's name, the zone, a general description of the improvements and their estimated cost. The notice was posted Nov. 6, 33 days before the Dec. 9 meeting. It includes all four required items. On its face, it meets the minimum.


HOW WE GOT HERE: THE PAPER TRAIL ON THE 444 ACRES


Each step below has been reported before. This notice is the first record to put a dollar figure on the project.


Aug. 29, 2026: The City of Brownsville released the 444 acres from its city limits at a special meeting. The release came alongside "Project Quantum," a water agreement with SpaceX worth up to $220 million. Gateway to Mars reported on Sept. 12, 2026. The 956 Report has covered the same meeting. According to Gateway to Mars' later coverage, the city's water site says the deal "does not allocate SpaceX one additional gallon of water."


Sept. 21, 2026: Starbase annexed 444.46 acres on a SpaceX petition, according to Gateway to Mars. The notice's site matches that tract in size and location. Gateway to Mars also reported that three days later, the city issued a site development permit for "444 acres - mass grading."


Oct. 18, 2026: Gateway to Mars reported that state records list a SpaceX "Boca Chica Facility" under "Electric Power Generation."


Oct. 30, 2026: Gateway to Mars reported that a Starbase building permit log shows a SpaceX application at "40193 TX 4 Data Center," described as "444 Acres," with plan review in progress.


Nov. 3, 2026: The 956 Report reported that a pending TCEQ air filing for the Boca Chica Facility lists 35 temporary gas turbines in the first phase, about 748 megawatts, to be replaced later by eight larger GE Vernova 7E turbines of about 708 megawatts. The proposed nitrogen oxides cap for the first phase is 248.86 tons a year. That is just under the 250-ton line that triggers a full federal major-source review.


Nov. 6, 2026: The Starbase notice. The words "power plant" and "super-compute facility" now appear in one official document, with a $24 billion price tag.


BY THE NUMBERS


$24 billion: estimated capital investment, initial phases only.

7.5 times: how much bigger $24 billion is than the $3.2 billion that supporters at Brownsville's Aug. 29 meeting said SpaceX had invested in the region since 2014 (as reported by Gateway to Mars).

About 109 times: how much bigger $24 billion is than the $220 million cap on SpaceX's Project Quantum water deal.

444 acres: the site, about 0.7 square miles.

35 turbines and about 748 megawatts: the first phase in the pending air filing reported by The 956 Report on Nov. 3.

33 days: the time between the notice and the hearing. State law requires at least 30.


ANALYSIS (LABELED, NOT CONFIRMED BY THE NOTICE)


The following is The 956 Report's reading of the record. It is not stated in the notice, and SpaceX has not confirmed it.


The pieces fit together. Power generation in state records. A "Data Center" entry in the city permit log. A 35-turbine air filing. Now a notice naming a gas plant and a "super-compute facility." Together they point to a large computing campus that makes its own electricity on site.


There is a likely reason a rocket company would want that. In February 2026, SpaceX merged with Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, which makes the Grok chatbot. Several outlets reported the deal at the time. Musk framed the merger around building data centers in orbit. He wrote that AI depends on large data centers on the ground that use huge amounts of power and cooling. Training AI models on the ground still takes that kind of computing today. Whether the Starbase site is meant for xAI work, SpaceX's own work or something else is not stated anywhere in the public record we have seen. That question should go to SpaceX directly.


The structure also matters. A gas plant built next to a computing facility can supply power directly instead of drawing everything from the grid. Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 6 in 2025 to set new rules for large power users like data centers. How this project fits those rules, and whether it connects to ERCOT at all, is not in the notice.


Water is the open question closest to home. Gas plants and large computing facilities can both use a lot of water for cooling, depending on their design. The Valley is in a water crisis. The notice says nothing about water.


SOURCES



Gateway to Mars, "SpaceX proposes a $24 billion gas-fired power plant and 'super-compute facility' in Starbase, a city notice says," Nov. 6, 2026: https://gatewaytomars.com/news#spacex-24-billion-starbase


The 956 Report, SpaceX Boca Chica Facility 35-turbine air filing, Nov. 3, 2026.


Texas Tax Code Section 312.2011 (Enterprise Zone): https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/tax-code/tax-sect-312-2011/


Texas Tax Code Section 312.207, as amended by H.B. 3143 (86th Legislature, 2019): https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/billtext/html/HB03143F.HTM


SpaceX-xAI merger coverage, February 2026: Ars Technica, https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/02/spacex-acquires-xai-plans-1-million-satellite-constellation-to-power-it ; Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/elon-musk-fuses-spacex-with-xai/

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