Gubernatorial nominees take differing stances on the issue

Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

The climate advocacy organization Food and Water Watch on Tuesday published a report urging New Mexico lawmakers to adopt a data center moratorium, citing high levels of estimated air pollution and water usage.

The report, titled “New Mexico Needs a Data Center Moratorium Now,” found that hyperscale data centers — which are typically used for artificial intelligence models, as opposed to the smaller cloud-computing data centers that power routine web services — can use as much energy as 100,000 to 2 million U.S. households, depending on the size.

Although developers often cite “closed-loop” technologies that purportedly save on water usage, opponents to these projects also cite concerns on air pollution for data centers that supply their own electricity. Developers for Project Jupiter, the Oracle and OpenAI data center campus under construction in southern New Mexico, initially planned to power the operation by building two natural gas plants, which Source NM reported would have emitted more greenhouse gases than the state’s two largest cities combined.

While a revised proposal to power the development Bloom Energy’s proprietary fuel-cell technology — which can convert natural gas, biogas or hydrogen into electricity — is projected to produce fewer emissions than the previous proposal to build gas plants, documents filed with the New Mexico Environment Department show they would still outpace the emissions of Albuquerque and Las Cruces combined.

“Data centers are just another lifeline for the fossil fuel industry…especially Project Jupiter,” Alexa Reynaud, a Food and Water Watch organizer told Source NM, adding that she’s been closely monitoring the related proposal to install a natural gas pipeline to the data center.

Reynaud, equipped with a camera, recently rode in a small, private plane over Project Jupiter and took photos of it from the sky. The experience put the development’s size — and proximity to New Mexico and Texas neighborhoods — in a new light, she said.

“Every time I try to explain it, I can’t. There are just no words for the size of it,” she said. “There are people who are going to be impacted by this … our state and our water resources are going to be impacted.”

The Food and Water Watch report comes days after several Democratic state lawmakers announced they would introduce a moratorium on large-scale data centers in the 2027 legislative session.

New Mexico lawmakers plan data center moratorium after Project Jupiter concerns

New Mexico lawmakers plan to introduce a statewide data center moratorium after Project Jupiter drew scrutiny over water, energy, emissions and transparency.

Organ Mountain NewsDamien Willis

A new governor will preside over next year’s 60-day session as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is term limited and will leave office at the end of the year. Each of the nominees running to replace her — Democrat Deb Haaland and Republican Gregg Hull — took differing positions on the proposal, when asked by Source NM.

Haaland in a statement said she supports a pause on new developments while state leaders draft regulations around data centers.

“New Mexico’s water must be safeguarded. We must make sure that any company that comes to New Mexico adds value to our communities, not hurt them,” Haaland wrote in a statement to Source NM. “New Mexico is not a piggy bank — and I support our state putting guardrails in place that data centers must follow if they are looking to build here. We can attract industry to our state and create jobs, while protecting our land, water, and air. Large corporations must do their part.” 

Hull, however, told Source NM he opposes the moratorium.

“It would tell every business considering New Mexico that we’re closed for economic diversification, and that sends the wrong signal at exactly the moment we should be competing for these investments,” he wrote in a statement. “But I don’t support a blank check either. Data centers need to be sited responsibly — with real accountability for water use, energy impact, and community input, and with siting decisions driven by local infrastructure capacity, not just available land. As governor, I’d rather fix the guardrails than shut the door on an entire industry.”

Multiple New Mexico communities have already enacted their own local moratoria, although no state in the U.S. has adopted one yet.

After a Canadian tech CEO proposed building a data center and solar array on 10,000 acres of land in Socorro, about an hour south of Albuquerque, elected county leaders in June adopted a yearlong pause on data centers and related infrastructure.

Santa Fe County commissioners followed suit last week, citing a need to be “proactive” before developers pitch data center projects in the area.

Joshua Bowling is a senior reporter for Source New Mexico. He's reported in New Mexico, where he broke stories of lavish spending at Western New Mexico University and more, since 2022.