Amarillo City Council authorizes a twenty year water supply agreement selling city water to Fermi America's Project Matador
Amarillo City Council voted five to nothing on first reading to authorize a water supply agreement with Fermi America, then took the required second reading later that month. Under the terms the city posted itself, Fermi may buy up to 2.5 million gallons of water per day at a rate twice the standard cost. Fermi pays for the wells, piping and other public improvements. The campus is not in the city. It sits next to Pantex about 35 miles north of the Amarillo city limits in Carson County. The city says it has adequate water resources for that volume without affecting the community's water supply or triggering changes to its drought contingency plans. This is a municipally owned utility selling water outside its own limits, which puts the decision in a council chamber rather than at a state agency. The Panhandle grid around it is the Southwest Power Pool rather than ERCOT.
How to take part
The council took public comment before the vote. The City of Amarillo maintains a Fermi Project page carrying the final water supply agreement, the non binding memorandum of understanding and an FAQ. A resident can read the executed terms rather than a summary of them.
Where
3 counties. In Amarillo.
Dates
| Date | What | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-28 | ordered | Second reading of the water supply agreement scheduled by the City of Amarillo, per the city's Fermi Project page |
| 2025-10-30 | signed | The city posts a document titled Final Fermi Water Supply Agreement 10-30-2025 on its Fermi Project page |
The evidence
Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.
Council members then voted 5-0 on a resolution authorizing a water supply agreement with Fermi, a company co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.Watch: World's largest AI data center big topic of Amarillo City Council meeting Journalism
There will be a second reading and vote in two weeks before anything is official.Watch: World's largest AI data center big topic of Amarillo City Council meeting Journalism
If approved on second reading (scheduled for October 28, 2025), this agreement would allow Fermi to purchase up to 2.5 million gallons of water per day at a rate twice the standard cost.Fermi Project Updates - City of Amarillo Primary source, official
The City of Amarillo has adequate water resources to meet Fermi America's proposed usage without affecting the community's water supply or triggering changes to existing drought contingency plans.Fermi Project Updates - City of Amarillo Primary source, official
The campus would be located next to Pantex, about 35 miles north of Amarillo city limits in Carson County.Watch: World's largest AI data center big topic of Amarillo City Council meeting Journalism
In its filing with the SEC for an initial public offering (IPO), Fermi said it entered into a letter of intent with the Amarillo Utilities Department to use between 2.5 and 5.5 million gallons per day of both potable and municipal graywater supplies to serve the Project Matador Site.Watch: World's largest AI data center big topic of Amarillo City Council meeting Journalism
The SPP grid covers Oklahoma, Kansas, portions of Arkansas, Louisiana and the Texas Panhandle and parts of northeast Texas, including the cities of Amarillo, Lubbock, Texarkana, Longview and Marshall.Southwest Power Pool (SPP) — Association of Electric Companies of Texas Primary source, official