A Texas-Sized Floating Solar Plant Is Coming To Texas, Of Course

Texas is set to become home to the largest floating solar power plant in the United States, a 391-megawatt facility that far surpasses the scale of existing US floating solar projects, which typically range from just a few megawatts. This massive installation will be part of the Pleasure Island Power Collective, a combined energy and data center development located on Sabine Lake and Pleasure Island near Port Arthur, Texas. The project will cover 2,275 acres on a man-made land stretch created over a century ago alongside the Port Arthur Canal. The Pleasure Island Power Collective is spearheaded by Diligence, a startup founded in 2023 and billed as America’s first Black-owned vertically integrated utility company. Diligence aims to integrate wind, solar, storage, and service to promote energy independence and economic growth in the Gulf Coast region. Despite shifts in federal energy policy and the absence of federal subsidies or tax abatements, Diligence is advancing the project independently. The company has partnered