SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KTSM) — Dona Ana County officials will host a handful of community meetings this week regarding an Austin-based firm’s plan to build a $165 billion data center in Santa Teresa.
Borderplex Digital Assets, the company behind the data center, said the facility could result in 750 jobs and $300 million in direct payments to Dona Ana County. The initiative is being called Project Jupiter.
The data center would be built just north of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, shown in the map below.
The Dona Ana County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted in favor of advancing the deal with the company last month.
However, the project has fueled community concerns that the center will drain water and electricity resources from residents to keep systems cool.
“But 30 days for stakeholders? Is the community not a stakeholder in this? Is the public, the residents and community members who will be impacted by this, who will have their water supplies drawn and their soil contaminated, their air contaminated, (not a stakeholder)?” said a person during public comment at a county commissioners meeting on Aug. 26.
According to a Q&A page on Dona Ana County’s website, it outlines that some data centers do use a lot of water, but it stated Project Jupiter won’t require a high volume of water usage because it will use a “closed loop” system,” which essentially recycles the water used to cool its computer servers.
The web page also states that “every” data center uses a lot of electricity to run the servers and the cooling system. However, it notes that Project Jupiter has committed to putting a “microgrid” power plant on-site to “produce power locally.” According to the web page, that means there will not be any impact on power availability or electricity prices.
The Board of County Commissioners will take a final vote on Project Jupiter during a public hearing on Sept. 19.
You can find the meeting schedule below and find more information by clicking here.
- District 1: 5:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 5, at the La Mesa Community Center, 744 San Jose Road in La Mesa
- District 2: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 9, in the auditorium at DACC’s Sunland Park Campus, 3365 McNutt Road in Sunland Park
- District 3: 5 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road in Las Cruces
- District 4: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 8, in the auditorium at DACC’s East Mesa Campus, 2800 Sonoma Ranch Blvd. in Las Cruces.
- District 5: 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 11, at Placitas Community Center, 241 Monticello Drive in the Village of Hatch
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