· Starting point
Council approves the Fermi water supply agreement on first reading
After a presentation by Fermi and Texas Tech officials and public comment, the council voted 5-0 on first reading of a resolution authorizing a water supply agreement for up to 2.5 MGD at twice the normal rate over an initial 20-year term. Mayor Cole Stanley presented figures comparing Fermi's potential use with regional groundwater pumping. Staff were to revise the terms before a second reading.[1][2][3][4]
Cole StanleyLes SimpsonFermi America (Fermi, Inc.)
What the sources say
- ✓ Verified
On October 14, 2025 the council voted 5-0 on first reading of a resolution authorizing a water supply agreement with Fermi; a second reading was scheduled two weeks later.[2][1]
- Votes for
- 5
- Votes against
- 0
- ✓ Verified
As presented on first reading, Fermi would pay twice the normal City water rate and fund two new wells in the Carson County well field, transmission pipelines and a backup generator for pump stations, dedicated to the City on completion by January 2027, for a maximum of 2.5 MGD over an initial 20-year term subject to the City's drought contingency plan.[1]
- Max mgd
- 2.5
- Term years
- 20
- Rate multiple
- 2
- ✓ Verified
Cole Stanley, Mayor: Mayor Cole Stanley cited about 1.1 trillion gallons a year pumped from the aquifer in the region and said that 10 MGD (about 3.6 billion gallons a year) would be about 0.32% of that total.[1][4]
- Regional pumping gallons
- 1,100,000,000,000
- At 10 mgd gallons per year
- 3,600,000,000
- Share
- 0.32%
- ✓ Verified
Cole Stanley, Mayor: Mayor Stanley said: "We'll charge them more than a regular customer because they're outside the city."[2]
- ✓ Verified
ABC 7 and The Texas Tribune reported Amarillo's average daily water use at 40 to 50 million gallons, and that Fermi planned to use 2.5 to 5.5 million gallons per day of potable and municipal graywater for the site.[2]
- City avg daily low gallons
- 40,000,000
- City avg daily high gallons
- 50,000,000
- ✓ Verified
Les Simpson, City Councilmember (Place 4): Councilmember Les Simpson said he left an end-of-September executive session understanding the item would not be on the October 14 agenda.[4]
- ✓ Verified
City of Amarillo: The City's Fermi project page states the City has adequate water resources to meet Fermi's proposed usage without affecting the community's water supply or triggering changes to existing drought contingency plans, that the agreement will not affect residential water rates, and that revenue will go to the Water and Sewer Fund.[3]