From Coal Dust to Solar Arrays: A Texas Energy Giant Reinvents Itself

BREMOND, TX – July 23, 2026 – In the heart of Texas, halfway between Dallas and Houston, the ground is breaking on a project that symbolizes a profound shift in the American energy landscape. Panamint Capital, a woman-led investment firm, has officially commenced construction on Big Rooter Power, a monumental $1.7 billion, 1.2-gigawatt solar project. What makes this development particularly historic is its location: the sprawling 10,000-acre Twin Oaks power station, a site long synonymous with coal.

This initiative will create the largest solar project ever built on a former coal mining site in North America, transforming an icon of the fossil fuel era into a beacon of renewable power. The project is not merely about replacing one energy source with another; it represents a sophisticated, systems-based approach to infrastructure redevelopment, creating an integrated power and digital hub designed for the demands of the 21st century. As construction begins on the first 491-megawatt phase, the project offers a compelling case study in how innovation can repurpose legacy assets to power the future.

A New Legacy for a Texas Powerhouse

The Twin Oaks complex has been a fixture in Robertson County for over three decades, its operations intrinsically linked to the adjacent Calvert Mine, which supplied lignite coal to power the region. Now, that same land is being reimagined. Instead of extracting carbon from the ground, it will harvest energy from the sun. This pivot is the cornerstone of Panamint Capital's strategy, a firm that specializes in breathing new life into aging energy infrastructure.

"Big Rooter Power represents our vision for getting more out of America's energy infrastructure and ensuring America's energy dominance," said Apolka Totth, Panamint's Chief Executive Officer. The project leverages the site's most valuable existing features—its vast acreage and crucial grid interconnections—to minimize development costs and environmental disruption. It’s a pragmatic approach that extends the economic value of an asset that has powered the community for a generation.

The economic benefits are slated to be substantial. The two-phase construction will create over 800 jobs, providing a significant boost to the local workforce. Beyond the construction boom, Panamint projects that the first phase alone, Big Rooter West, will contribute over $66 million to the local economy throughout its operational lifetime, continuing the site’s long legacy of being a key economic engine for Robertson County.

The All-American Power Play

In an era of tangled global supply chains, Panamint is making a deliberate and strategic bet on American manufacturing. The project is a showcase for domestic industrial capacity, a key component of its development philosophy. "We are proud to use domestically manufactured equipment made by American companies and installed by American workers," stated Mr. Stanton, the firm's Managing Director of Development.

This commitment is not just rhetoric. The project will utilize approximately 2 million solar panels manufactured by First Solar at its facilities in Ohio, Louisiana, and Alabama. The structural backbone of the massive solar arrays will be built with over 34,000 tons of domestically produced steel. To optimize performance in the notoriously volatile Texas weather, the facility will deploy advanced NX Horizon™ solar tracker systems from Nextpower, equipped with software and hardware designed to protect against hail—a critical feature for ensuring asset longevity and reliability in the ERCOT market.

Leading the construction is SOLV Energy, a U.S.-based leader in utility-scale energy projects. "Big Rooter is a landmark project that reflects the scale of investment being made in America's energy future," said George Hershman, SOLV Energy's CEO. "Our focus is on creating lasting value for communities, customers and stakeholders." This 'Made in America' approach not only supports thousands of jobs across the country but also aligns with national strategic goals to enhance energy independence and build a resilient domestic clean energy supply chain, a trend significantly accelerated by federal initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Blueprint for a Digital-Energy Hub

While the 1.2 GW solar farm is the headline act, it is just one component of a far more ambitious vision. Panamint is transforming the Twin Oaks site into a fully integrated, multi-faceted energy and digital infrastructure hub. The master plan reveals a complex designed to be both a massive power generator and a major power consumer, creating a symbiotic ecosystem of next-generation assets.

When complete, the complex will feature 1.5 GW of operating power. This includes the new solar capacity and plans for Minor Oak Power, a 700 MW natural gas-fired peaker plant designed to provide dispatchable power that ensures grid stability. To complement the intermittent nature of solar, the site will also host one of the state's largest battery storage systems: a staggering 1.6 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of capacity, capable of storing and deploying vast amounts of energy to help balance the grid during periods of peak demand.

Perhaps the most forward-looking element is the planned 790 MW "Batch Zero" data center, dubbed the Big Rooter Data Center (BRDC). As the demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing skyrockets, so does the need for immense, reliable power. By co-locating a massive data center with gigawatt-scale generation and storage, Panamint is creating a model for powering the digital economy. This integration allows the data center to draw power directly and efficiently from the on-site assets, reducing strain on the public grid and creating a highly resilient infrastructure hub. With a long-term power purchase agreement already secured with a major American corporation, the electricity generated at Big Rooter is set to power job creation and digital innovation well into the 2050s.