Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Four Cameron County projects carry a combined estimated investment of $41.1 billion, according to a county-branded graphic Dan Garcia, a Pittsburgh-based energy infrastructure attorney with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC who identifies Brownsville as his hometown, shared on social media.
The graphic lists Rio Grande LNG, SpaceX’s Starbase and launch facility, Texas LNG, and Saronic Technologies’ Port Alpha. Three are located at the Port of Brownsville, while Starbase is listed at Boca Chica Beach. The figures represent estimated investment amounts presented in the graphic.
“This graphic says a lot about what is happening in Brownsville and Cameron County right now,” Garcia wrote. “The scale of economic activity is extraordinary.”
Rio Grande LNG, developed by NextDecade Corporation, accounts for $31.8 billion of the listed investment. The graphic describes the natural gas liquefaction and export terminal as occupying approximately 1,000 acres at the Port of Brownsville and calls it one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in Texas history.
The graphic assigns an estimated $3.5 billion investment to SpaceX’s Starbase and launch facility, describing it as the company’s primary Starship development, testing and production site. It also lists $13.5 billion in economic impact and says a 700,000-square-foot vertical integration manufacturing plant is slated for completion around late 2026.
Texas LNG is listed with an estimated investment of $2.8 billion and a 625-acre footprint at the Port of Brownsville. The graphic links the export facility with regional infrastructure improvements, including the $16 million Port Connector Road for industrial and commercial logistics.
Port Alpha, Saronic Technologies’ proposed autonomous naval shipyard, carries an estimated $3 billion investment. According to the graphic, groundbreaking is expected by the end of 2026. The development would produce artificial intelligence-powered unmanned surface vessels across a site spanning hundreds of acres.
The graphic says Port Alpha aims to create up to 10,000 direct jobs and generate more than $160 billion in regional economic activity. Those employment, investment, and economic impact figures are presented as projections rather than completed outcomes.
Garcia said his professional involvement gives the developments personal significance.
“Brownsville is my hometown,” he wrote. “It is the community that raised me, and being able to contribute professionally to projects that are helping shape its economic future is something I do not take for granted.”
Garcia described his practice as advising developers, utilities and investors on pipelines, renewable energy infrastructure, utility regulation and permitting. He also advises on power strategies for artificial intelligence and hyperscale data centers and conducts due diligence for energy infrastructure transactions.
He said he participates in work connected to several projects pictured in the graphic but did not identify specific assignments or clients.
Garcia credited colleagues across energy, regulatory, environmental, maritime, commercial and employment practices with supporting that work.
“I may be the attorney with the connection to South Texas, but I can bring an entire team with me,” he wrote.
He said the assignments connect his Pittsburgh practice with Brownsville, describing the city as “the community that will always be home.”
