New Mexico lawmakers hosted a listening session on Project Jupiter, a data center project in the Santa Teresa Industrial Park, which drew nearly 400 residents to the New Mexico State University campus on August 11.
Concerns and Questions
Over 30 speakers posed questions or made statements against the project, citing concerns about water usage, air pollution, job numbers, transparency, and the rapidly expanding Artificial Intelligence industry.
State Senators Carrie Hamblen, Joseph Cervantes, Bill Soules, and Jeff Steinborn hosted the event, which was originally proposed by Cervantes following months of public comments from residents seeking answers.
Proposed Legislation
Hamblen announced that she is working with fellow Democrat State Representatives Micaela Lara Cadena and Angelica Rubio to introduce legislation next year that would ban future data centers statewide.
Cadena and Rubio presented the proposed legislation on August 11 to the Science and Technology Interim Committee in Socorro, which includes concepts of a moratorium bill that hasn’t been fleshed out to include public input through town halls.
Steinborn said he will re-introduce the Microgrid Oversight Act, which would require self-generated power plants being created to power data centers to use renewable energy for 40% of their power generation needs, increasing to 100% renewable energy usage by 2024.
Original reporting: Las Cruces Sun News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
