<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1T6N09_1H1ctMbu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1T6N09_1H1ctMbu00" width="1000" height="667" ><figcaption>Photo credit: Shutterstock.com / Wirestock Creators</figcaption></figure><p>SpaceX plans to spend more than $74 billion on two AI supercomputing campuses, about $24 billion at its Starbase site in South Texas and roughly $50 billion in Cochise County, Arizona, the company said Thursday. Both projects still need local approval, and both key votes are scheduled for the same night, Dec. 9.</p><p>Here is what most coverage skips. The two campuses run on opposite power plans. In Texas, SpaceX would build its own natural gas plant and stay off the public grid. In Arizona, it would draw power from local electric cooperatives and back it up with battery storage. Elon Musk’s company is making two very different bets in two states with very different politics.</p><h2>What is SpaceX building in Texas?</h2><p>On Nov. 9, the city of Starbase, the company town around SpaceX’s launch site, posted notice of a $24 billion natural gas power plant and supercomputing facility next to Brownsville. The project would sit on 444 acres in Cameron County, land SpaceX asked Brownsville to remove from city limits in August. In return, the company would fund up to $220 million in water and wastewater projects.</p><p>The Starbase City Commission will consider a property tax break for the project at 7 p.m. CT on Dec. 9.</p><h2>What is SpaceX building in Arizona?</h2><p>The bigger check is going west. SpaceX wants to build a 747-acre campus near the Willcox Playa that would require more than 6 gigawatts of power at full build-out. The project, called the Cochise Supercomputer Campus, would roll out in four phases of about 1.5 gigawatts each, and the application was not filed under the SpaceX name. An investor tracking the company posted on X that the applicant is Tombstone Resources LLC, a Wyoming entity formed in July.</p><p>SpaceX says the campus would create about 5,500 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs. The company says it would use dry cooling, would not consume industrial groundwater and could cut electric bills by up to 20% for cooperative members. Not everyone is convinced. An opposition petition has passed 1,900 signatures. The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission will hold its public hearing on Dec. 9.</p><h2>Why does the timing matter in Texas?</h2><p>The ground under Musk in Texas just shifted. Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott in November and takes office in January. She has already asked the state parks department to hold off on a proposed sale of about 1,300 acres of public land in Cameron County, including Boca Chica State Park next to Starbase. She told CNN on Nov. 5 that Texas is done with data centers unless the companies behind them can prove Texans benefit.</p><p>Voters were already uneasy. A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll released in June found 56% of <a href="https://rollingout.com/2026/11/11/texas-man-cruise-ship-death-of-his-wife/">Texas</a> registered voters oppose data centers in their communities. Brownsville adopted a 90-day moratorium on Nov. 5. The Wall Street Journal reports that Texas Democrats now want to rein in the tax incentives and special treatment Musk’s companies have long enjoyed in the state.</p><h2>Will SpaceX’s data centers raise your power bill?</h2><p>That question is driving the backlash, and <a href="https://rollingout.com/2026/11/10/elon-musk-spacex-forecast/">SpaceX</a> is answering it differently in each state. In Texas, the company’s response is to generate its own electricity so its supercomputers don’t compete with homes for grid power. In Arizona, it is promising lower bills for cooperative members. Critics in both places still want to know how much power and water these campuses will really use and who pays if the promises fall short.</p><h2>What happens next for SpaceX?</h2><p>Two commissions in two states will meet on the same December night to weigh the biggest pieces of SpaceX’s AI expansion. Then the Texas Legislature convenes on Jan. 12 with data center bills already filed.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk">Musk</a> built his empire in Texas on a friendly welcome. The next few weeks will show whether that welcome still stands or whether the desert offers a better deal.</p></div></body>

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SpaceX plans to spend more than $74 billion on two AI supercomputing campuses, about $24 billion at its Starbase site in South Texas and roughly $50 billion in Cochise County, Arizona, the company said Thursday. Both projects still need local approval, and both key votes are scheduled for the same night, Dec. 9.

SpaceX drops $74 billion on AI as Texas politics shift

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SpaceX plans to spend more than $74 billion on two AI supercomputing campuses, about $24 billion at its Starbase site in South Texas and roughly $50 billio

SpaceX drops $74 billion on AI as Texas politics shift

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