The pitch
Project Matador is Fermi America's plan to build the largest private power grid in United States history: an 11 GW campus on roughly 5,200 acres of leased land in Carson County, outside Amarillo, Texas. The complex would house data centers, semiconductor fabrication, and its own power generation -- four Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors, natural gas plants, solar arrays, and battery storage.
The project's estimated cost: 500 billion dollars over its lifetime. It is named in honor of Donald Trump, and the company has filed for DOE loans and NRC approvals for the nuclear component.
Who is behind it
Fermi America was co-founded by former Texas Governor and US Energy Secretary Rick Perry. CEO Toby Neugebauer (son of US Representative Randy Neugebauer) previously oversaw more than 1 billion dollars in shale basin investments. The company IPO'd with a 16 billion dollar market cap -- on zero revenue.
The 99-year lease was signed with Texas Tech University. The site sits adjacent to the Department of Energy's Pantex nuclear weapons assembly facility, the only active nuclear weapons assembly plant in the United States.
Environmental stakes
The gas-fired component alone -- more than 5,100 MW -- would make Project Matador the largest gas plant in the country. Environmental assessments indicate the facility's gas plants would release up to 24 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. The Sierra Club and other groups have flagged permit deficiencies including failure to require Best Available Control Technology for certain pollutants and inaccuracies in air quality modeling.
The Amarillo City Council approved a water supply agreement for 2.5 million gallons per day of city water at twice the municipal rate. Amarillo's water comes partly from the Ogallala Aquifer, which is already being drained faster than it recharges, threatening farmers and ranchers across the Great Plains.
Fermi secured its clean air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in February 2026 and has since filed for an additional 5 GW permit, expanding campus projections to 17 GW total.
Market reality
Fermi America IPO'd in October 2025 at roughly 21 dollars per share and briefly hit 37 dollars. By February 2026, the stock had crashed to an all-time low of 7.18 dollars -- a decline of roughly 80 percent from its peak. A key tenant canceled an agreement that would have provided 150 million dollars to fund construction. No binding leases have been signed with tenants. Multiple securities class action lawsuits have been filed.
The company drew 200 million dollars from a Keystone National Group equipment facility in early 2026 to begin the first 2.3 GW phase. The full 11 GW vision remains years away from reality -- if it materializes at all.