Updated October 14, 2026. Original publication: October 13, 2026.
Project file, researched October 13, 2026. This article covers Crusoe’s original eight-building, 1.2 GW Stargate campus at the Lancium Clean Campus near Abilene, Texas. Crusoe’s separate 900 MW Microsoft campus is discussed below, but its contractors are not counted as Stargate contractors.
Crusoe said two Stargate buildings were operating and six were still under construction on June 9, 2026. That is the latest building-by-building update we found, so it does not tell us what was finished by October 2026.[4][3]
The work extends well beyond electrical installation. Crusoe and DPR describe liquid cooling, carbon-steel and copper piping, factory-made exterior panels and backup gas turbines. The sources we found name several contractors. We are doing further research and will publish it here when we have identified the subcontractors.[5][9][10]
Which Abilene project is Stargate?
Crusoe started the first two buildings in June 2024 and announced six more in March 2025, bringing the original campus to eight buildings, about 4 million square feet and 1.2 GW of planned total power capacity. The first two buildings represented more than 200 MW. The company first expected the expansion to finish by mid-2026, then gave an end-of-2026 target, but its June 2026 update still described six buildings under construction.[1][4][6]
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure runs the facility for OpenAI workloads. Crusoe calls Oracle its primary customer and strategic partner there; OpenAI called Abilene its flagship Stargate site in September 2025.[2][3][8]
Lancium developed the original land and power infrastructure, while Crusoe designed and built the data center. Funds managed by Blue Owl and Primary Digital Infrastructure joined Crusoe in a venture to finance the six-building expansion. Those roles should not be confused with construction contracts.[3][7]
There is another Crusoe project next door. In March 2026, the company announced a separate, two-building, 900 MW campus for Microsoft with its own on-site power plant. Land clearing and site work had begun, with a mid-2027 target for the first building. Together, the two campus plans add up to 2.1 GW of planned capacity, not operating Stargate capacity. Crusoe did not name a builder or trade subcontractors for the Microsoft campus in that announcement.[6]
| Workstream | Documented state at snapshot | Date and boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Stargate first two buildings | Operating on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure | Crusoe reported first phase live September 30, 2025; its June 9, 2026 update again called both buildings operational.[2][4] |
| Stargate buildings three through eight | Under construction in latest phase-specific update retrieved | Crusoe’s June 9, 2026 statement. March 2025 mid-2026 and March 2026 end-2026 completion dates were forecasts, not verified delivery dates.[1][4][6] |
| Power systems for original campus | 1.2 GW grid interconnection in Lancium’s announced power plan; backup gas turbines and closed-loop cooling in Crusoe’s design | A grid interconnection figure is not an operating draw or IT load. The proposed battery and solar resources in the March 2025 plan are not verified as completed installations here.[1][5] |
| Adjacent Microsoft campus | Site clearing and preparation announced; separate two-building, 900 MW plan with on-site generation | March 27, 2026 announcement; first-building mid-2027 target remains an announcement, not current completion evidence.[6] |
OpenAI also mentioned a potential 600 MW expansion near the flagship site in September 2025. It discussed that possibility alongside other Oracle projects. That announcement neither establishes a separate contract award nor shows that 600 MW should be added to the original eight-building plan.[8]
Who is building the original campus?
Crusoe named many firms involved in the original campus in December 2025. The list below keeps the roles Crusoe actually gave them. It does not assign a specific contract to a firm merely because that firm works in a particular trade.[3]
| Firm or group | Role actually stated by primary source | What remains unconfirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Crusoe | Data-center developer and builder; Crusoe Industries manufactured electrical equipment and switchgear for the first-phase delivery | That every piece of electrical gear or every later-phase package is self-performed.[1][3] |
| Lancium | Developed original land and power infrastructure at the Clean Campus; its announced services include grid interconnection and site engineering | Contractor of record for every transmission, substation or battery installation.[1][3] |
| DPR Construction | Lead construction partner; also listed among the “MultiPrimes”; DPR separately describes its two-building Abilene job | General contractor for the adjacent Microsoft campus or sole builder of all eight Stargate buildings.[3][9] |
| Rosendin; Southland | Listed alongside DPR as “MultiPrimes” | Individual electrical, mechanical or other contract scope is not assigned by Crusoe’s list, despite each firm’s broader industry specialty.[3] |
| AlfaTech; HKS | Engineering/design partner; campus master planning and architecture, respectively | Trade installation contracts.[3] |
| KH; GPLA; BW Design Group; MPS; Cupertino Electric; Maverick; Sabre | Crusoe’s named “Design Team” roster | A construction award or precise design discipline for each name in that roster.[3] |
| Wagner; WW Afco; DPR Self Perform Groups; Digital Building Components; EIG and partners JLA, E2 Optics and Walker Electric; Western States; Vanguard; Flynn; North Texas Fire Protection; Cherry Coatings; Goins Crane Services; Instor/Accelevation; Crusoe Industries | Crusoe’s named “Key Trades Partners & Prefab” roster | A verified line-item award, phase, contract value or current vacancy for any member. North Texas Fire Protection’s inclusion is a named partner, not a published sprinkler-scope contract.[3] |
| GE Vernova | Turbine equipment source: GE said Crusoe ordered 10 LM2500XPRESS units for its Abilene data center in December 2024 and another 19 for Crusoe operations more broadly | All 29 turbines allocated to Abilene, installed or operating. The 19-unit follow-on order is not a demonstrated Abilene award.[11] |
| Oracle; OpenAI; Blue Owl-managed funds; Primary Digital Infrastructure | Cloud/customer, AI workload, and financing roles as described above | Building-trade contractors.[2][3][7][8] |
DPR describes the first two buildings in more detail. HKS designed the project, whose data halls and central utility halls use direct-to-chip liquid cooling and air cooling, with a backup natural-gas turbine plant. GPLA designed insulated exterior panels, DPR crews prefabricated them and Digital Building Components installed them; DPR says 656 prefinished panels were produced in about 60 days.[9][10]
What work do the trades cover?
The table separates work documented by the project companies from trade assignments that still need independent confirmation in public records. A cooling system, for example, points to pipefitting work but does not identify the contractor or show that a new bid is open.
| Trade or work package | Project evidence | What to check next |
|---|---|---|
| Construction management, GC and self-perform | DPR is named lead construction partner and multiprime. Its own account describes first-phase construction and self-performed panel prefabrication.[3][9] | Six-building management allocation, next-phase bid status, logistics and safety packages. |
| Land clearing, grading, excavation, foundations, underground civil and concrete | Buildings began construction in 2024 and the six-building expansion began in 2025; an adjacent Microsoft site reported clearing in 2026.[1][6] | Stargate earthwork quantities, foundation subcontractor, drainage, road and utility-trench awards. Site preparation on the Microsoft parcel is not a Stargate civil contract. |
| Structural steel, envelope and roofing | DPR documents a structural panel design and installed insulated-metal-panel envelope for the first buildings.[9][10] | Steel erection, roof, waterproofing, structural precast and later-building envelope assignments. GPLA’s panel design is not proof of a steel-erection award. |
| Electrical, medium voltage, switchgear, distribution and backup systems | Crusoe says its manufacturing division supplied switchgear; Lancium announced a 1.2 GW grid interconnection; DPR described a backup gas-turbine plant. Rosendin appears in Crusoe’s multiprime list.[1][3][9] | Distribution scopes by building, switchyard/utility ownership, installation of battery or solar, testing and whether any work is open. Do not infer Rosendin’s exact awarded package from its corporate name. |
| Plumbing, industrial pipefitting and water | Crusoe says the cooling loop uses carbon-steel and copper pipes and an initial municipal fill of one million gallons per building.[5] | Domestic plumbing, welded-pipe packages, sanitary connections, process-water treatment and drain permits. The cooling-system specification does not name a plumber. |
| HVAC, mechanical and direct-to-chip cooling | Crusoe documents closed-loop, non-evaporative facility cooling, air-cooled chillers and direct-to-chip cooling; DPR describes air-cooling capability too. Southland appears among multiprimes.[3][5][9] | Southland’s exact scope, chiller/pipe installation assignments, maintenance packages and commissioning responsibility. There is no basis to describe an evaporative-cooling-tower package here. |
| Fiber, telecom and low-voltage | Crusoe names E2 Optics, JLA, Walker Electric and Instor/Accelevation within its key-partner group; the buildings support a shared network fabric.[1][3] | Each company’s specific fiber, structured-cabling, rack, security or installation contract. The published list does not sort them by discipline. |
| Fire protection and life safety | North Texas Fire Protection is named among key trade partners.[3] | Sprinkler, detection, alarm and suppression design or installation scope, permit holders and building-by-building awards. |
| Controls, BMS, power management and instrumentation | Lancium describes power orchestration; Crusoe describes a controlled, recirculating cooling loop and turbine backup.[1][5] | BAS/BMS, generator controls, SCADA, cybersecurity and integrator awards. No specific controls contractor is assigned in the reviewed announcement. |
| Testing, balancing, startup and commissioning | Two buildings were energized and placed in service, which documents a completed transition to operation for that phase.[2][4] | Independent commissioning agent, functional performance tests, TAB firm, remaining six-building sequence and dates. Operational status does not identify who commissioned it. |
| Power generation, gas, grid and water interfaces | Crusoe identifies GE Vernova turbines at Abilene and the grid connection; Lancium described proposed behind-the-meter storage and solar. Crusoe specified municipal fill and ongoing cooling maintenance water.[1][5][11] | Gas connection and permitting, actual installed turbine count, battery/solar status, electric-utility and water-utility work packages. A 1.2 GW interconnection is not proof of 1.2 GW delivered to racks. |
| Specialty and support | Crusoe names crane services, coatings, prefab and envelope firms in its partner roster. DPR describes panel logistics and installation.[3][10] | Lift plans, coatings, insulation, rigging, QA/QC, temporary power, transport, security, waste handling and maintenance awards by phase. |
Crusoe says air-cooled chillers remove heat without consuming water in that process, although each of the eight buildings still needs an initial cooling-loop fill of one million gallons. Crusoe projects about 50,000 gallons per building each year for maintenance and water quality, figures that describe its design rather than measured water use. They also leave out construction, domestic, fire-system and other site water, which the sources we reviewed do not quantify.[5]
How many people have worked there?
Crusoe reported about 2,000 people on site each day in March 2025 and about 3,000 in May; its later accounts put the daily number above 5,600 in August and above 7,000 in December. The first two reports also discussed a nearly 5,000-worker expectation. These are dated company figures for people on site, not a count of unique jobs, local residents, current openings or an October 2026 payroll.[1][7][5][3]
OpenAI estimated more than 25,000 on-site jobs in September 2025 across three new Oracle sites and a possible Abilene expansion. The figure spans multiple sites and is not a workforce count for the original Abilene campus.[8]
Where can contractors and workers look?
DPR has a public subcontractor prequalification route and says firms must qualify each year before they can bid or contract with it. Rosendin has a trade-partner route for firms invited to bid or already awarded work. Neither prequalification page lists an open Stargate contract.[12][13]
Contractors should first ask the prime which building, phase and trade package is involved. A useful capability sheet would cover relevant industrial or critical-facility work, safety and quality systems, available crews, travel plans, bonding, insurance and required Texas licenses, including experience near live equipment or liquid-cooling systems where it applies. Workers can check jobs and apprenticeships with the named employers, confirming the site and hiring company rather than treating the 2025 headcounts as vacancy notices.
Permits naming the contractor for each trade, utility and generation approvals, a new construction update and prime-issued bid documents would fill many gaps. We did not verify a complete permit list, city water agreement, labor agreement, union deployment, current craft wages, October 2026 workforce count or live vacancy list. Without them, we cannot count the remaining jobs by trade or assign unlisted work to a named firm.
How we checked this
We reviewed statements by Crusoe, its builders and suppliers, its finance partners and OpenAI on October 13, 2026. Their numbers describe different things: planned campus power, operating buildings, buildings being built and people on site on particular dates. A 1.2 GW grid connection is not power used by computers, just as a partner list is not a set of subcontract awards and earlier worker counts are not current jobs. We keep the Microsoft development separate from the Oracle/OpenAI Stargate campus.[4][6]
For a different project, see Echelon’s PORTS-Pike project file on the proposed Ohio campus. The national data-center labor report looks at workforce supply across the industry. This Abilene file focuses on the original campus, its phases and the firms Crusoe named.[14][15]
Send a project update
We will update this article when we can check new public records or firsthand project information, and welcome corrections from contractors, workers, owners and local organizations.
We are looking for confirmed subcontractors and their work packages, building milestones, official hiring and apprenticeship links, and information on housing, travel and per diem. Please include the campus, phase and date, plus a public record or a contact who can verify the detail. Do not send private contracts or workers’ personal information.
Sources
- Crusoe: eight-building campus expansion (2025)
- Crusoe: first phase begins operation (2025)
- Crusoe: construction and design partner roster (2025)
- Crusoe: capacity and construction update (June 2026)
- Crusoe: cooling design and workforce (2025)
- Crusoe: separate Microsoft campus announcement (March 2026)
- Crusoe: second-phase financing venture (2025)
- OpenAI: five new Stargate sites (September 2025)
- DPR: Abilene project construction account
- DPR: Abilene data center project
- GE Vernova: Crusoe turbine orders
- DPR: subcontractor prequalification
- Rosendin: trade-partner prequalification
- Echelon Reports: PORTS-Pike project file
- Echelon Reports: national data-center workforce report