Almost 30 regulatory agencies were involved when Fermi America worked with the federal government to trade a piece of land between Texas Tech and Pantex 150 miles north of Lubbock. Fermi is using Tech property for a giant artificial intelligence project.
It took 45 days.
“That should take years. So, I think that this is important to our current administration,” said Trent Sisemore, who represents Fermi’s Project Matador.
America is the global leader in artificial intelligence – according to the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI – and wants to keep that ranking.
The Fermi plant – in partnership with Texas Tech – will play a major role by:
- Generating the massive amount of power to power AI and the companies using it.
- Not taking power away from homeowners and businesses.
- Creating new revenue for Tech and acting something like the Permanent University Fund (PUF) – which has supported the University of Texas and Texas A&M for more than a century.
No one knows an exact dollar figure of the benefit to Tech, said Sisemore, former Amarillo mayor.
“I would be misspeaking to give you an exact number or even a close number. I do know that it is a large amount of money. … The better that Fermi does, the better it’ll be financially for Texas Tech” Sisemore said.
When asked if the Permanent University Fund (PUF) is a fair comparison, Sisemore said, “According to officials within the company that have alluded to that exact quote, I would think it would be fair to say it is.”
LubbockLights.com invited the Texas Tech University System to comment. If the school responds, we’ll follow up.
Fermi has a 99-year lease for more than 5,000 acres from Tech next door to the Pantex Plant where the nation’s nuclear weapons are disassembled and retrofitted.
“At production, it should be the largest private power producer in the United States,” said Sisemore.
The plan is 11 gigawatts – including 4.4 gigawatts of nuclear. Solar and battery storage will be part of the mix.
“Hoover Dam is two gigawatts. The city of Manhattan is probably five gigawatts. It’s two Manhattans,” Sisemore said.
Also, Sisemore was confident a recent drop in Fermi’s stock price to $8.59 following its “first tenant” dropping out would not hurt Project Matador.
The hyperscaler landlord
Fermi will be the landlord – providing power and location. Other companies will be the tenants and do actual data crunching. While Sisemore could not name specific companies – calling them hyperscalers – he did say they’re likely to be names you’ve heard.
“Just like a strip center would have someone that comes in and puts a kitchen in one and a restaurant – and the next one might be a clothing store,” Sisemore said.
Lots of Lubbock connections
Former governor Rick Perry and Toby Neugebauer, the son of former Lubbock Congressman Randy Neugebauer are Fermi’s co-founders.
Other leadership includes Charlie Hamilton and Cathy Landtroop – well-known names in the Lubbock business community.
Sisemore got a call from Hamilton inviting him to join Fermi. When he didn’t say yes, the former governor called.
“I just have the highest of respect for him, both when he was governor and when he was the energy secretary. And so it doesn’t take much persuading from somebody that you have that kind of respect,” Sisemore said.
Sisemore was Perry’s pilot when he was campaigning for Texas commissioner of agriculture in the 1990s.
“I’ve known Governor Perry for many years and he asked me to be a part of this. And he understands that China has built 33 nuclear reactors since we built our last one – and that we’re behind,” Sisemore said.
Keeping up with China
“I don’t think China has built 33 nuclear reactors to air condition the houses in Shanghai. Whoever owns the power production owns AI,” Sisemore said.
“AI will be strategic in any kind of competition we have with foreign governments. … With owning AI, you can control other satellites, you can control their golden domes [missile defense systems], you can control their financial networks, you can control their infrastructure if you have a way to manipulate those type of industries,” Sisemore said.
“We need to be the best in everything we do, whether it’s in the production of airplanes and the production of weapon systems. Our military is the best. And if we want to continue to be the best in all areas, AI is one of those, and it takes a lot of power to power AI,” Sisemore said.
America’s AI Action Plan
The following is from President Trump on the second page of America’s AI Action Plan.
“Today, a new frontier of scientific discovery lies before us, defined by transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence… Breakthroughs in these fields have the potential to reshape the global balance of power, spark entirely new industries, and revolutionize the way we live and work. As our global competitors race to exploit these technologies, it is a national security imperative for the United States to achieve and maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance. To secure our future, we must harness the full power of American innovation.”
Nuclear power
Power will first come from natural gas, Sisemore said.
“The site where Fermi is, really is kind of the DFW of natural gas. There are multiple different major gas lines that run right through that area,” he said.
In July, the company announced the purchase of six Siemens SGT800 gas turbines and other equipment with an eye toward delivering roughly one gigawatt by the end of 2026.
Gas-fired power continues to develop while nuclear comes soon if all goes to plan.
Fermi filed an application in June with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build four Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors, each with about 1.1 gigawatts of capacity.
“Construction of the first AP1000 reactor is projected to begin in 2026, with a five-year build timeline. The initial unit is targeted to be operational by April 2031,” the license application said.
“We’re looking at AP1000, but there are other options also. … Fermi is working with government agencies to license nuclear that is more hybrid cooling using air and water. So, it’ll be much more efficient than typical nuclear power plants would be.” Sisemore said.
The site will probably use about 2.5 million gallons per day – which he compared with five to 10 irrigation crop circles for corn, Sisemore said.
“It’s a large amount of water. But compared to how much water is being used daily in the Panhandle, it’s a very small amount.” Sisemore said.
Highlights of Fermi’s NRC application
- “The property lies adjacent to the DOE-operated Pantex Plant, offering unique proximity to a federally hardened and environmentally characterized site. The lease enables project staging within zones already subjected to environmental review, reducing permitting timeframes.”
- “Fermi America’s sovereign leasehold interest was executed in April 2025 through a Ground Lease Development Agreement with Texas Tech University. The lease grants exclusive development rights for nuclear and energy generation and developmental sovereignty over zoning, permitting and municipal oversight.”
- “Fermi controls access, development and improvement rights to all 5,855 acres. Texas Tech maintains a non-interfering oversight role, limited to revenue participation and covenant enforcement. Fermi has the authority to construct, sublease and operate all facilities located within the boundary …”
Already living with nuclear
When asked by LubbockLights.com if a nearby nuclear power plant might cause concern for Amarillo homeowners, Sisemore answered, “I don’t know why it would be fearful. We have them on every aircraft carrier. … Our submarines are nuclear.”
“Nuclear is by far the safest energy. There’s not anyone that’s ever been killed in the United States by nuclear. We live with nuclear in Amarillo,” Sisemore said.
“We have the final assembly-disassembly point of all nuclear weapons just north of here – right next to where the Fermi plant is going to be. So, the majority of people are not fearful of nuclear. They understand that we steward the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons,” Sisemore said.
Not taking power from the grid
According to a software logistics company called Cargoson, “As of November 2025, the United States has 5,427 data centers, making it the world’s largest data center market by a significant margin.”
“Right now, there’s a lot of data centers being built. However, a lot of those data centers are taking power from the grid. And that’s not fair to the people that actually paid for that infrastructure through their electrical bills,” Sisemore said.
Fermi is different, he said – with plans for power independence. And the power consumers are on the same patch of dirt as the power plants. No need for long-distance power lines.
“But other data centers, they’ve got to take power from somewhere,” Sisemore said.
That gets expensive for everyone if utility companies must build out new infrastructure.
“AI data companies – they should pay part of that bill. And so that’s part of what Fermi’s doing – is allowing that to happen by building their own power production and allowing those hyperscalers to rent that space from Fermi,” Sisemore said.
Next to Pantex for a reason
Fermi’s proximity to Pantex is strategic, Sisemore said.
Regular environmental studies are already conducted on the location for the benefit of Pantex. And there are already security buffers in place at the location – again for Pantex’s benefit.
As for new jobs, Fermi’s NRC application said, “Economic modeling … is expected to forecast over 9,000 peak construction-phase jobs and more than 600 permanent operating-phase jobs associated with the nuclear project alone.”
That doesn’t include data center jobs estimated in the thousands.
IPO, 8-K and stock price
Fermi went public between September 30 and October 1 with an IPO or initial public offering of stock, raising $682.5 million. It closed that first day on the market at $32.50 per share.
It got people’s attention.
For example, journalist Sebastian Moss wrote in October for datacenterdynamics.com, “Despite having built nothing, shown no revenue and having no customers, the company went public and is now worth more than Hasbro, makers of GI Joe, Magic and the Transformers brand.”
But recently, Fermi hit a bump in the road. It had a non-binding deal including an exclusivity period with a company known only as its “first tenant.” First tenant agreed to advance $150 million to offset constructions if certain conditions were met but then backed out on December 11. The stock price – which previously dropped to $15.25, dropped to $8.59 a few days later.
A special public report called an 8-K filing revealed the development with first tenant. However, it also revealed that negotiations were continuing and Fermi said it “remains confident.”
Sisemore also expressed a sense of confidence.
“Fermi is still in negotiations with them, but when the exclusivity agreement was taken off the table, that allowed other companies to look, and there are other companies now in negotiation also with Fermi,” Sisemore said.
National law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd said it’s investigating “potential violations of U.S. federal securities laws involving Fermi Inc., focused on whether Fermi and certain of its top executives made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information to investors.”
