Days after we reported that energy reporter Robert Bryce indicated that Fermi, the Rick Perry-connected proposed largest data center in the world in Amarillo had gone from “sizzle to fizzle”, things got worse.
On Friday, CEO Toby Neugebauer abruptly departed, reported Axios and shares on the newly traded operation plummeted in value on top of a 75% fall over the past six months. Investing.com reported this week Neugebauer was quickly replaced by Marius Haas who was named chairman. The company’s shares fell 14% in premarket trading following the announcement.
Perry, the former US Energy Secretary and Texas governor, promoted the project last year and announced intentions with great celebration to build the 5,800-acre data center campus next to the PANTEX nuclear assembly and disassembly plant.
Axios interviewed Neugebauer last week in which he defended the idea but also admitted there were some shortcomings:
- Neugebauer told Axios he may have been naive about how complex these projects are to put together, particularly the cooling systems that are essential to cool the AI chips.
- Pushing back on the line of questioning, he said he may have “misunderstood where the supply chain is” for cooling equipment: “I will accept that as a failure.
Axios obviously did some digging after Robert Bryce laid out some weaknesses in the project:
- These hurdles are documented in an independent report by Cleanview shared exclusively with Axios, as well as earnings calls, public filings and comments from company executives. Cleanview is a market intelligence firm that tracks clean energy and data centers.
Neugebauer admitted to Axios in the interview the company’s bold plan could not make progress without a tenant. At least one such tenant withdrew from the project late last year and filed a class-action lawsuit.
Perry, who was Energy Secretary in the first Trump term, planned to call Project Matador, as it was known, the President Donald Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus.