Avangrid’s largest solar project helps address Texas data center energy demand

It’s a snapshot of today’s evolving energy ecosystem: Avangrid Inc., a leading energy company, accepted the challenge of creating vast amounts of electrons for a planned Texas data center for technology company Meta and to bolster the state’s power grid reliability and resilience.

What emerged was remarkable, drawing community appreciation and heartfelt kudos from a retired Texas woman, in particular.

Supporting data center demand, grid reliability

Avangrid debuted its largest solar project to-date in early 2025: “True North,” a 238-megawatt-AC (MWac) (321 MWdc) project brought to life by the engineering, procurement and construction might of Black & Veatch, ranked by the Engineering News-Record as the top U.S. solar design firm.

While helping support growing energy demand across Texas, True North supports Meta’s operations that include the tech company’s future data center in Temple, an hour’s drive north of Austin and the site of Meta’s second Lone Star State data center. Located in the 1,700-resident town of Mart in east-central Texas, the solar site leverages green energy in a state at the forefront of power from the sun, further cementing Texas’ stature as a leader in American energy production. And with more than 488,000 solar panels, True North can generate enough energy each year power nearly 60,000 U.S. homes.

“With a projected boom in data center construction over the next several years that will significantly increase energy demand, projects like True North are and will be vital to ensuring the resiliency and reliability of the Texas electrical grid,” Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said.

The cloud, the Lone Star and the sun

Driven by cloud computing and AI growth, data centers are rapidly expanding, creating a challenge to supply their vast power needs. U.S. data center energy use reached 176 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2023, representing 4.4% of total U.S. electricity consumption; by 2028, that share could triple to as much as 12%, according the U.S. Department of Energy.

Texas has been ground zero of the data center march. Hundreds of billions of dollars in investment are expected across the state, with 10 data centers being built — along with the electricity generation needed for them — in Texas under a “Stargate” entity announced in January 2025.

As Avangrid has found, solar power can play a key role in helping satisfy the power appetite of data centers. The Solar Energy Industries Association reported that the U.S. solar industry installed nearly 50 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of capacity in 2024, up 21% from 2023 and marking the second consecutive year of record-breaking capacity. Put another way, solar accounted for two-thirds of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the U.S. grid in 2024.

Texas has led the way, maintaining its position in 2024 as the top-ranked state for new solar capacity installed for the second year in a row, with 11.6 GWdc.

Avangrid, a member of the Iberdrola Group, has delivered much-needed energy to Texas for more than 15 years and — with seven energy generation projects there altogether representing more than $2 billion in direct investment in Texas — has installed a total capacity of nearly 1.6 gigawatts (GWs).

Developing a solar farm for a greener future

Creating a solar farm with a staggering half a million solar panels might sound like a tall order. Black & Veatch finished the job ahead of schedule by remaining nimble in marshalling its resources. Case in point: With roughly two-thirds of the project completed, Avangrid and Black & Veatch needed to revise some of the design and pivot to a configuration involving different modules to close out the job. Those modules had a different wattage and connector style, pressing Black & Veatch to find a fix. The company had a preliminary solution within a day by tapping its stable of experts, from its Kansas headquarters to a key electrical engineer as far as Michigan.

Black & Veatch also cleverly devised cameras that were mounted on the front of the skid steers, allowing operators to see beyond the massive, refrigerator-sized module pallets that were obstructing their vision as they drove between racks of solar panels.

“Accomplishing such a monumental task takes grit, determination and strong cross-collaboration,” said Jim Doull, president of Black & Veatch’s power providers segment.

A neighbor’s gratitude

The project’s monetary benefits speak for themselves. Creating about 300 jobs — most filled by local residents — at the construction’s peak, True North represents $369 million of investment in central Texas. It’s projected to contribute more than $40 million in property taxes throughout its lifetime, directly benefiting public services in Falls County and surrounding communities, namely schools that use the added revenue for such things as STEM education and learning materials, teacher supplies, busing and updated athletic facilities. Since 2009, Avangrid’s seven Texas projects have paid out a combined $118 million in taxes.

But it’s also the little things — intangibles like courtesy and attention to detail — that truly tugged True North neighbor Joni Gross’ heartstrings.

The occupant of a farm that’s been in her family for more than a century wasn’t quite sure what to think when the heavy equipment and trucks first began rolling onto the project site. Skeptical at first, the 69-year-old retired state systems analyst initially told a member of the crew: “I hope we can be good neighbors.”

But by the time the project wrapped up, Gross was effusive in her praise of Black & Veatch, telling site manager Samuel Hegarty — one of the last remaining workers at the location — she “would actually miss them being there.”

In a letter to Black & Veatch, Gross commended the company for keeping truck traffic attentive to posted speed limits. “Your folks didn’t litter,” she noted, remembering a time when the crew swiftly corralled paper and cardboard after it once “flew everywhere.” An avid walker, she lauded how “your guys would watch for me and pull over,” as they also did when she ventured out for a drive into town.

Yet to Gross, the finished project’s crowning moment perhaps was when the roads were left graded and packed — “best they’ve ever been in many years.”

“You guys were the best,” she closed. “You can’t teach ethics and values. So, no matter where I am or what type of business, if I see staff that deserve to be recognized then I will take the time to do so.”