Click play to listen to this article.

A developer is slated to build a massive AI data center in New Mexico's Doña Ana County after only a few weeks' notice to local residents – and opponents say it's created distrust about the process.

Developers behind the $165 billion Project Jupiter have pledged to create 2,500 construction jobs, and 750 full-time positions. That may be good news for the economy, but critics worry the project could strain the region’s water and power resources, and cause significant pollution.

Joe Cardillo works on research and communication for the advocacy group ProgressNow New Mexico.

Image

"Private companies are not coming into local communities because they want to do good," said Cardillo, "they're coming to make money. And three weeks is certainly not enough time for the community to have a real, transparent conversation about the costs and benefits."

The Doña Ana County commissioners approved the project last month, despite concerned and sometimes angry testimony from more than 100 local residents during a seven-hour meeting.

Days before the vote, New Mexico lawmakers had approved what was described as a grid modernization bill, which expedited the project. Cardillo said the lack of transparency has led many to conclude it was a "done deal" before the public hearing was ever held.

Only one of the five county commissioners voted against the project, arguing it came together too quickly for elected officials and residents to fully understand its implications and environmental impacts.

ProgressNow Mexico's Energy Policy Director Lucas Herndon said as part of the deal, developers have promised to build a desalination plant, an electricity generation plant and more. Still, he said residents' concerns were not addressed.

"Even if 100 percent of everything that the company is claiming is true, even if they are true," said Herndon, "that does not change the way that the community feels they were treated by the county. So, I think that's a big part of the story."

The plant would be located near Santa Teresa and Sunland Park – places that have lived with low-quality drinking water for decades.

In addition, Cardillo said AI data centers are known to contribute to air pollution that disproportionally affects low-income communities.

"I think watching and guarding against people being put into situations where they're exposed to high levels of pollution is a pretty serious issue," said Cardillo, "you go look at examples of AI data centers in other places, and the level of pollution that workers could be exposed to, I think, is considerable."