Project Matador

Timeline from the record

Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.

1. 2025

   Proposed
   Fermi America founded January 2025 by Rick Perry, Toby Neugebauer, and Griffin Perry. Project Matador announced on ~5,769-acre site in Carson County under 99-year lease with Texas Tech University System, adjacent to DOE Pantex Plant. Source: Fortune
2. 2025

   Under construction
   600MW+ natural gas turbines acquired across two deals (July 2025); COLA for four AP1000 reactors filed with NRC June 17 2025; NRC accepted COLA for review September 2025; TCEQ preliminary approval for first 6GW gas generation (November 2025); geotechnical work commenced on campus. Source: PR Newswire

Opposition and litigation at this site

Yes. Project Matador in Amarillo, Carson County, Texas is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record. TCEQ air permit process (for 93 planned gas turbines) drew 279+ public comments, majority opposed.

How the community has taken it

Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: contested means active public debate is on record, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition, without litigation.

TCEQ air permit process (for 93 planned gas turbines) drew 279+ public comments, majority opposed. 63 contested case hearing requests filed before State Office of Administrative Hearings; 21 additional public meeting requests. Primary opposition group: Panhandle Taxpayers for Transparency. Key concerns: air quality (modeled 2,140 tpy CO and 1,591 tpy NOx), water demand, impacts on farmland and nearby cattle operations (Tyson Foods facility adjacent). Fermi bused in college students to a December 2025 public meeting, stoking further controversy.

Source: Sierra Club Texas

Power and water

Initial generation: on-site natural gas. Fermi acquired 600MW+ of gas turbines in two deals (July 2025): 478MW from Firebird LNG/Siemens Energy (six SGT800 turbines + heat recovery steam generators + one SST600 steam turbine) and 135MW from GE 6B Frame units acquired from a New Jersey facility. TCEQ issued preliminary approval for up to 6GW of combined-cycle gas (November 2025); air permit secured February 2026 after ~279 public comments. Long-term plan adds four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors (~4.4GW nuclear baseload; COLA filed June 17 2025, NRC accepted two of three parts for review September 2025, Part 3 deadline December 31 2026, first reactor targeted 2031, all four by 2038) plus solar and battery storage. Fermi is also evaluating SMRs (MOU with Doosan Enerbility). Entire campus is behind-the-meter, private grid, no public utility offtake.

No confirmed water use figures published. Community opposition raised concerns about Ogallala Aquifer impacts from combined cooling demand of gas plants and data centers. Arid Texas Panhandle location heightens water supply risk.

People and entities in the record

• Rick Perry · founder via Fermi America

  Co-founder and director of Fermi America, developer of this campus, holding 2.5% of common stock after the October 2025 IPO. Former Texas governor (2000-2015) and U.S. Energy Secretary (2017-2019).

  Source

• Griffin Perry · founder via Fermi America

  Co-founder of Fermi America, developer of this campus, holding 19.4% of common stock after the October 2025 IPO, the second-largest individual holding.

  Source

• Toby Neugebauer · founder via Fermi America

  Co-founder and former CEO of Fermi America, developer of this campus. As of June 2026 he was soliciting shareholder consents to call a special meeting, which the company publicly opposed.

  Source

Notes on the record

11GW is the long-term ceiling for the HyperGrid campus; near-term company targets include 1GW by end of 2026 and 2.3GW first-phase delivery, these are company goals, not firm commitments. Land acreage reported variously (5,769 acres per DCD July 2025 and 5,855 acres per other sources; later company materials cite 7,570 acres on 7,570 acres); using 5,769 as the earliest confirmed figure, sourced from the gas turbine acquisition announcement. Coordinates approximate (seed-provided; site in Carson County ~12 miles NE of Amarillo, adjacent to DOE Pantex Plant). Fermi America co-founded January 2025 by former Texas Governor and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Toby Neugebauer (CEO, departed April 2026 after being fired 'without cause'), and Griffin Perry. IPO raised $682M on Nasdaq under ticker FRMI (October 2025), valuing company at ~$19B at opening; market cap collapsed to ~$3.4B by April 2026 after leadership exits and loss of anchor tenant ($150M LOI canceled December 2025). Company organized as a REIT; had zero revenue at IPO. Investment: equipment financing commitments exceed $600M ($500M MUFG turbine warehouse + $200M Keystone/Cape facility); projected total project cost $70 to 90B is a range/projection, not a firm figure, omitted from investmentUsd per data-rigor policy. Jobs: 50,000+ projected across campus lifetime, projection only, omitted from jobs field. Nuclear campus name in NRC COLA filings: 'President Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus'; publicly marketed as Project Matador / HyperGrid.

Other sites within 30 miles

Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.

• Hut 8 Vega Facility · Amarillo · American Bitcoin (Hut 8)21 mi · Operating · 205 MW

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