Sunland Park, county residents seek delay for Project Jupiter vote

LAS CRUCES — Doña Ana County commissioners are set to vote Friday morning on an unprecedented $165 billion industrial revenue bond and other tax incentives in a bid to lure a “next generation” campus of AI-supporting data centers to Santa Teresa.

But the City of Sunland Park has joined community organizations and residents seeking more time to evaluate the proposal, which participants at several town halls have characterized as rushed and skimpy on key details.

On Sept. 9, the Sunland Park City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the county to delay Friday’s vote and allow time to fully assess the proposal, particularly with respect to impacts on housing prices, water supply, roads, stormwater management and public safety.

BorderPlex Digital Assets and Stack Infrastructure are the builders behind Project Jupiter, which would comprise four data centers, a power plant and an office campus.

On Monday the developers announced a new $50 million commitment to upgrading drinking water and wastewater infrastructure across the county, including $10 million in Sunland Park and an additional $6.9 million to support “shovel-ready” community projects such as facilities for the Boys & Girls Club and career and technical education offices.

The companies also offered a 20% increase in promised direct payments to the county in lieu of taxes, from $300 million to $360 million over 30 years, according to a news release from BorderPlex Digital Assets.

County commissioners have indicated support for the IRB, under which the county would hold the property and act as a lessor to the company for the 30-year bond period, during which the business is shielded from property and general receipts taxes. The IRB does not allow for direct investment of public money into the project and does not entail borrowing money, as with general obligation bonds.

In a news release, County Manager Scott Andrews said, “The Board is looking forward to discussing how an investment of this magnitude could expand our economic footprint and significantly improve the quality of life for all who call Doña Ana County home.”

The water-intensive project raised questions and concerns in a region that has faced long-term problems with water supply and quality. The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA), the water utility jointly formed by Sunland Park and the county in 2009, is in the process of dissolving after the county commissioners voted to separate from it in May.

Project Jupiter has met with organized opposition as well as skeptical questions by community members about the project’s benefits compared to its costs. At a series of town halls, the developers offered scant detail on where they would acquire the water needed to fill the center’s closed-loop cooling system or specific needs for power.

“A promise is meaningless without real, written commitments and hard data, and the track record of data centers nationwide tells a different story than the sales pitch,” Zac Egan, an organizer with Stop Project Jupiter, told the Journal. “Even the most basic promise that we’ve been given, that the company will hire local, is non-binding. ... Until those protections are actually in the agreement, this is another empty corporate promise from a company based out of state looking to capitalize on our people and our environment.”

The developers said the center would supply its own power on-site initially using natural gas for an unspecified length of time before transitioning to renewably-sourced energy to comply with New Mexico’s statutory zero-emission targets.

The project, which has projected approximately 2,500 jobs over a decade of construction and 750 permanent staff positions, has the backing of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration.

The project, state Economic Development Secretary Rob Black said in a news release, “would uplift the entire region — creating thousands of new jobs, driving business growth, and strengthening supply chains to promote long-term prosperity along the border.”

Calls to delay vote

The developers have indicated that other sites are also under consideration and the county’s selection depends on passage of the historically high industrial revenue bond.

However, community members have called on the county to delay the vote since the industrial revenue bond question was introduced at a county meeting in August as answers to many questions were shielded from the public as trade secrets or under nondisclosure agreements. Other questions about the center’s proposed power plant and cooling systems went unanswered at town halls because, according to Stack representatives, engineering plans were not yet complete.

While the process followed legal requirements for public notice, the public had limited time to review complicated agreements before the hearing. The leases, contract terms and text of the IRB ordinance, totaling nearly 350 pages, were uploaded to the county’s website on Monday, ahead of a Friday morning hearing.

Commissioners will also consider, on a separate vote, an ordinance offering state tax incentives under the Local Economic Development Act for Project Jupiter, with provisions that include the $50 million in water infrastructure investment as well as penalties if the company does not meet targets.

Las Cruces resident Arturo Uribe, who is undecided about the project, said he doubted the commissioners themselves had enough time to properly review the proposal before Friday.

“This is the most important decision these commissioners will make, and they’re rushing it. They’re not doing their due diligence,” Uribe said.

“We are not yet saying we are against the $165 billion bond or the data centers,” Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea said in a written statement. “What we are saying is that we need adequate time to study the massive project before making a determination.”