As artificial intelligence pushes demand for more data centers, companies are drawn to the state’s relatively inexpensive land and natural gas that can run on-site power plants.

ERCOT is making a first attempt at a planning process in which multiple requests will be considered simultaneously.

The project is at a scale of industrial development and investment unmatched in McLennan County’s history: acres of computer hardware, substations and a 1.2-gigawatt gas-fired plant capable of powering about 300,000 homes.

The announcement by Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai is the latest multi-billion dollar investment in Texas by tech companies racing to build infrastructure that can support advanced artificial intelligence.