---
title: "SpaceX asks its company town for a tax break on a $24 billion gas plant and data center"
description: "Starbase's three-member commission, two of whom work for SpaceX, votes December 9 on the property tax abatement for the plant that would power the company's fast-growing compute business. The notice never prices the giveaway, and the governor-elect who campaigned against data centers takes office in January."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Power"
published: 2026-11-10T18:14:50.106Z
modified: 2026-11-10T18:14:50.106Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/spacex-asks-its-company-town-for-a-tax-break-on-a-24-billion-gas-plant-and-data-center
language: en
keywords: "SpaceX, Texas, Data Centers, Energy, Tax Policy, Gina Hinojosa"
---

# SpaceX asks its company town for a tax break on a $24 billion gas plant and data center

> Starbase's three-member commission, two of whom work for SpaceX, votes December 9 on the property tax abatement for the plant that would power the company's fast-growing compute business. The notice never prices the giveaway, and the governor-elect who campaigned against data centers takes office in January.

[SpaceX](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/spacex) has asked Starbase, Texas, the city it built around its launch range, for a property tax break on a gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility it proposes to construct, own and operate, at [an estimated $24 billion for the initial phases](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-09/spacex-plans-24-billion-data-center-and-gas-plant-in-texas) [1]. The one-page hearing notice is dated November 6; by Monday's close SpaceX (SPCX) had risen 5.8% to $142.07, above its June IPO price of $135, before easing back on Tuesday [2][3].

The site is a 444-acre tract just east of Brownsville, between Boca Chica Boulevard and the Port of Brownsville [3].

## The land left Brownsville in August

Starbase incorporated as a city in 2025 and is home to several hundred SpaceX employees and their families [3]. In August, Brownsville commissioners voted the 444 acres out of their city and approved up to $220 million from SpaceX for water projects [4].

In September the company proposed a Florida pipeline to feed Starship and began hiring its own gas traders in Starbase and Cape Canaveral [3][5]. On November 3, Gina Hinojosa won the Texas governor's office on a pledge to stop data-center development until state protections exist; the notice is dated three days later [6].

## Building past the queue

The plant's job is to decouple the compute's start date from the grid. A pending state air filing for the Boca Chica site, per a local filing report, [covers 35 temporary gas turbines of about 748 megawatts, later to be replaced by eight permanent turbines of about 708](https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/spacex-wants-tax-break-24-152348184.html); a SpaceX affiliate has filed plans for an eight-mile gas pipeline, Starpipe, to enter service by January 2027 [2].

The plant would feed the company's largest business: the Super Intelligence segment booked $7.56 billion of third-quarter revenue against $813 million a year earlier, ahead of Starlink's $5.2 billion [7][2]. The capital behind it runs ahead of the sales [8].

*Chart: **Capital spending has outrun revenue in five of SpaceX's last six reported quarters** Line chart comparing SpaceX quarterly revenue and capital spending from Q1 2025 to Q3 2026; capital spending exceeds revenue in five of six quarters and a reference line marks the $24 billion Starbase phase one estimate.*

*Quarterly revenue and capital spending in USD billions, from SpaceX's SEC filings; Q4 2025 is not reported in the filings on file and is omitted. The $24 billion reference line is the city hearing notice's estimate for the Starbase project's initial phases, not reported spending. [8][1]*

## The vote belongs to three people

The commission [takes up a Chapter 312 tax abatement and a related economic development agreement](https://www.krgv.com/news/starbase-weighs-spacex-tax-break-proposal-for-natural-gas-power-plant-data-center-plan) at 7 p.m. on December 9 at Starbase City Hall, and the public may speak [4][2]. Two of its three members work for SpaceX: the mayor, who is the company's vice president of Texas test and launch, and its senior director of environmental health and safety; the third works for a pharmaceutical company [9].

The notice omits the break's size and length, the plant's generating capacity and who would use the compute; Texas law requires the final agreement to list the improvements and recapture the lost taxes if they are not built [2]. No public document prices what a city of about 500 would give up [9]. The ask echoes the [Louisiana abatement](https://theinference.org/article/louisiana-handed-spacex-a-24-billion-tax-break-in-a-meeting-posted-on-a-courthouse-door) won in September, the largest in that state's history [10].

## Austin is the bigger risk

"It is not that I hate data centers. I hate the way they are taking advantage of Texas, and that stops when I'm governor," [Hinojosa said on November 5](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/11/06/hinojosa-texas-data-centers-pause-what-to-know/92641237007/) [6]. [Elon Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk) spent about $225 million on Texas elections and lost [9].

His companies already have one turbine fight in court: [a federal judge let the NAACP's Clean Air Act suit over 35 unpermitted turbines](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/31/judge-allows-naacp-lawsuit-over-xai-data-center-pollution-to-move-forward/) at the Colossus data center near Memphis proceed on October 31 [11]. A city vote cannot shield the project from a state ban or a state air permit [2].

## Two dates tell the two paths apart

[Anthropic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anthropic), whose contracts fund the chip purchases, could begin trading as early as November 19 or 20 after [pulling its $70 to $80 share range on Monday](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/jim-cramer-names-one-deal-043245723.html) [12]; it has [committed up to $120.5 billion to SpaceX compute through 2029](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/anthropic-discloses-120-5-billion-140613686.html), about $3.1 billion a month from December, and either side can walk on 90 days' notice after early 2027 [13].

Lenders are already inside: [Goldman Sachs is syndicating $40 billion of chip debt](https://theinference.org/article/texas-governor-elect-gina-hinojosa-wants-a-spacex-pause-as-goldman-syndicates-40-billion-of-chip-debt) secured against the Texas buildout, at rent owed unconditionally [14]. The December 9 terms answer the tax question; Austin answers the permit one [7]. A stock at roughly 70 times trailing sales [7] now waits on a vote of three. The plant is the asset. The contracts are the cash. December 9 is the gate [7].

## Takeaway

SpaceX has asked Starbase, the town it built and staffs its commission, for a property tax break on a $24 billion gas plant and data center; the December 9 vote settles only the tax question, while the new Texas governor takes office in January pledged to stop data-center development until state protections exist.

## Sources

1. [Bloomberg, SpaceX Plans $24 Billion Data Center and Gas Plant in Texas, November 9, 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-09/spacex-plans-24-billion-data-center-and-gas-plant-in-texas)
2. [24/7 Wall St via Yahoo Finance, SpaceX Wants a Tax Break for a $24 Billion Gas Plant and Supercomputer at Starbase, November 10, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/spacex-wants-tax-break-24-152348184.html)
3. [Stocktwits via Yahoo Finance, SPCX Stock Rises As SpaceX Advances $24B Texas Data Center And Gas Plant Plans, November 9, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spcx-stock-rises-spacex-advances-214647323.html)
4. [KRGV 5 News, Starbase weighs SpaceX tax break proposal for natural gas power plant, data center plan, November 10, 2026](https://www.krgv.com/news/starbase-weighs-spacex-tax-break-proposal-for-natural-gas-power-plant-data-center-plan)
5. [Investing.com via Yahoo Finance, SpaceX plans $24 billion power plant in Starbase, Texas, November 9, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/spacex-plans-24-billion-power-194659267.html)
6. [USA TODAY, Texas Governor-elect Hinojosa calls for data center pause, November 6, 2026](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/11/06/hinojosa-texas-data-centers-pause-what-to-know/92641237007/)
7. [GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance, Elon Musk's $24 billion Texas plan faces a major obstacle, November 10, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/elon-musks-24-billion-texas-112303451.html)
8. [SpaceX quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved November 10, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001181412)
9. [2paragraphs, SpaceX Seeks Tax Break for $24 Billion Project: SpaceX Executives Sit on City Commission, November 10, 2026](https://2paragraphs.com/2026/11/spacex-seeks-tax-break-for-24-billion-project-spacex-executives-sit-on-city-commission/)
10. [The Inference, Louisiana handed SpaceX a $24 billion tax break in a meeting posted on a courthouse door, September 29, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/louisiana-handed-spacex-a-24-billion-tax-break-in-a-meeting-posted-on-a-courthouse-door)
11. [TechCrunch, Judge allows NAACP lawsuit over xAI data center pollution to move forward, October 31, 2026](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/31/judge-allows-naacp-lawsuit-over-xai-data-center-pollution-to-move-forward/)
12. [BeInCrypto via Yahoo Finance, Jim Cramer Names the One Deal AI Stocks Can't Recover Without, November 9, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/jim-cramer-names-one-deal-043245723.html)
13. [Blockspace via Yahoo Finance, Anthropic discloses up to $120.5 billion in SpaceX compute spending through 2029, October 26, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/anthropic-discloses-120-5-billion-140613686.html)
14. [The Inference, Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa wants a SpaceX pause as Goldman syndicates $40 billion of chip debt, November 6, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/texas-governor-elect-gina-hinojosa-wants-a-spacex-pause-as-goldman-syndicates-40-billion-of-chip-debt)


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SpaceX asks its company town for a tax break on a $24 billion gas plant and data center — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/spacex-asks-its-company-town-for-a-tax-break-on-a-24-billion-gas-plant-and-data-center