Project Jupiter: Confusing outreach marks rollout of proposed data center

LAS CRUCES — Neeshia Macanowicz took a 45-minute drive with friends to the Sunland Park Sports Complex on Tuesday for a community meeting regarding a proposed data center in Doña Ana County.

She hoped to hear answers to her questions about environmental impacts, promised jobs and the transparency of developer BorderPlex Digital Assets’ negotiations with El Paso Electric, the state of New Mexico and the county.

But when she arrived, no one representing the county or the developer was there. The building was locked and the parking lot was mostly empty. An employee of the sports center told her the meeting had been canceled approximately two hours ahead of time.

It felt “disappointing and confusing,” Macanowicz said in an interview. “I’m not sure exactly what their intentions are. It gives me the impression that they don’t care for public input. … It’s kind of clear that they’re just going through the motions.”

The meeting was one of eight apparently scheduled in Sunland Park, Hatch and Las Cruces between Aug. 28 and Sept. 4, offering opportunities for the public to learn about Project Jupiter and ask questions before county commissioners consider approving a historic $165 billion industrial revenue bond (IRB). The incentive would support building a campus to include four data center buildings powering AI technology and a microgrid energy facility.

The list of meeting dates, times and locations was disseminated by County Commissioner Shannon Reynolds, a vocal supporter of the project, and it soon spread around the community. Reynolds confirmed at least one was held. But most were not. The county publicized a different meeting schedule Wednesday. Reynolds told the Journal the list he had shared was an early draft that he had released “prematurely.”

The new list, promoted on the county’s Facebook page, includes five meetings between Friday and Sept. 11 in La Mesa, Las Cruces, Sunland Park and Hatch. The locations include each of the commissioners’ districts.

The meetings are in-person only and will not be livestreamed, but the county commented on Facebook that “project partners are actively working to launch a website for everyone who is interested in learning more about Project Jupiter.”

County spokesperson Ariana Parra said those meetings have been organized and will be hosted by Project Jupiter’s developers. She did not answer questions regarding the list of meetings Reynolds shared.

The official list diverges from a promise the company made at a crowded Aug. 26 public meeting, where commissioners agreed to a hearing and possible approval of the IBR and other tax incentives in September. Commissioner Susana Chaparro, the lone member voting “no” on the procedural step, said, “There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. … This community deserves answers to the questions they may have.”

In response, Jose Ibarra, a local businessman assisting BorderPlex Digital with community outreach, promised twice-weekly meetings in Sunland Park running up to the Sept. 19 hearing, with additional gatherings “to make sure we cover the entire county.”

Water and power

A spokesman for BorderPlex Digital Assets told the Journal, “A next-generation, fully integrated infrastructure campus like ours has never been built before.”

Yet it is proposed for the Santa Teresa area, where the community faces challenges over drinkable water supply and distribution.

The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority, which has served as the region’s water utility under a joint agreement between the City of Sunland Park and the county, is in the process of being absorbed by the city after the county voted to withdraw from the agreement.

New Mexico State University researchers and the county are assessing how to make use of a large reservoir of brackish water from an underground aquifer south of Las Cruces to support expanded development near the border, including a recent request for proposals to develop a water desalinization plant.

Addressing public concerns about the water needed for cooling the data center, BorderPlex Digital Chairman Lanham Napier told commissioners and the public on Aug. 26 that the project would use a closed-loop cooling system requiring a single fill-up, unlike data centers that use evaporative cooling technologies.

Napier promised that the company would explore using brackish water for its operations and invest heavily in “essential county water infrastructure improvements to ensure long-term water security and sustainability for the region,” without offering more specific detail. The company’s application for the industrial revenue bond, which the county has made available with redactions it says are to protect “trade secrets,” as well as the project’s brief slide presentation at the Aug. 26 meeting, do not elaborate further.

Members of the public and organizers with Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County have also raised questions about the power needed for a massive data center and resulting impacts on the environment and ratepayers’ bills.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in February, BorderPlex Digital allowed for the facility to produce needed electricity from natural gas or nuclear power and still comply with “zero carbon” energy requirements under New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act, provided greenhouse gas emissions contributing to its power stayed below certain thresholds.

The company has pledged to invest up to $165 billion in the county and to make $300 million in direct payments in lieu of taxes if the commissioners approve the industrial revenue bond, which uses tax abatements to support private manufacturing and infrastructure developments. The bond is secured by future revenue and does not commit the county to spend or borrow any money, although it foregoes potential tax revenue in exchange for direct payments.

BorderPlex Digital Assets has also vowed that its ongoing water needs would be limited to daily use for a business staff of 750, and that it would not expose residents to higher electric bills or financial risk.

Yet for residents like Macanowicz, and organizations such as Empowerment Congress and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, questions remain about how Project Jupiter will fulfill its promises, and how much the public will participate in the decisions scheduled for Sept. 19.

”Promoting transparency and clarity for the community remains our top priority in advance of the upcoming Sept. 19 meeting,” Parra said.

Macanowicz said it felt to her like the decision was a done deal and the process was serving mainly to fulfill legal process requirements, with the confused messaging about community meetings only contributing further to her misgivings.

”Three weeks was already very short notice,” she said, “and they’re already not meeting the expectations that they had set for themselves.”

On Friday, the county posted a “frequently asked questions” article about Project Jupiter and industrial revenue bonds on its website, DonaAna.gov, and invited emailed questions to be submitted to input@DonaAna.gov.

”We want to ensure residents’ voice is heard and their concerns are addressed,” County Manager Scott Andrews stated in a news release.