New Mexico: data centers & your electric bill
As of October 1, 2026, AI GridWatch tracks 7 data center moratoriums or pushback actions in New Mexico: 4 in force, 3 proposed. The state has 28 tracked data center facilities using an estimated 1.6 TWh of electricity a year.
Everything GridWatch tracks in New Mexico on one page — proposed projects, moratoriums, permits, officials, and the 2026 ballot.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for New Mexico.
As of July 2026 (3m ago) · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
1Proposed data centers in New Mexico (4)
1 still live · 3 decided or withdrawn. Each name links to the full dossier — ownership, intelligence log, and where to read the paper trail.
| Project | Where | Size | Behind it | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Stargate New Mexico | Santa Teresa | — | Oracle | In review | Source read 2026-08-14 |
| OpenAI Stargate Doña Ana County | Doña Ana County | — | Oracle | Under construction | Source |
| Meta Los Lunas | Los Lunas | 87 MW | Meta | Source read 2026-08-14 | |
| Green Data Socorro campus (New Mexico Tech land) | Socorro (Socorro County) | 2,000 MW | Green Data Centers | Withdrawn | Source read 2026-08-14 |
2Pushback already happening in New Mexico
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-01-22 | 18-month pause passed unanimously in a surprise vote after public comment, following a Spaceport America data center proposal | SourceNews read 2026-08-04 |
| Socorro County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-06-09 | 1-year moratorium on data centers and related infrastructure on unincorporated county land, adopted unanimously after 2+ months of opposition to the proposed Green Data Center; also began forming an advisory committee to recommend regulations. | SourceNews read 2026-08-12 |
| Santa Fe County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-01-02 | 18-month moratorium, unanimous. Threshold lowered from 100 MW to 1 MW and cumulative-impact monitoring added in response to public comment; staff to draft water, energy and noise rules | SourceOfficial read 2026-08-23 |
| Colfax County | Local | Proposedterm not documented | Ordinance 2026-02, a moratorium on new data center projects, introduced Jul 21 with a public hearing Aug 11, 2026. The county's own ordinance page still lists it as proposed; early September press reports say it was adopted, not yet confirmed against the county record. Raton, the county seat, postponed its own city moratorium in June over an MOU with developer Atterix | SourceNews read 2026-09-05 |
| Rio Communities | City | Enactedexpires 2027-08-26 | 365-day moratorium on undefined uses exceeding 20,000 sq ft in commercial, industrial, and manufacturing zones, 4-0 vote; prompted by CBRE marketing 365+ acres as premier data center development site; council also directed staff to draft data center zoning definitions | SourceNews read 2026-09-11 |
| Raton | City | Proposedterm not documented | City commission postponed vote on Resolution 2026-29 (moratorium on data center business licenses and zoning approvals) due to conflict with existing MOU with Atterix LLC (converting old Kmart to 5-50 MW data center); MOU expired Aug 2026 but no final action found | SourceNews read 2026-09-11 |
| New Mexico | State | Proposedterm not documented | Four Democratic lawmakers (Reps. Cadena, Rubio, Chavez; Sen. Hamblen) announced bill to prohibit new large-scale data center projects statewide while developing impact evaluation framework; paired with data security protections and closing microgrid loophole under Energy Transition Act; to be introduced in 2027 session starting Jan 19 | SourceNews read 2026-09-11 |
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
3Known data center campuses in New Mexico
| Operator | Location | Tenant | Filing LLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | Los Lunas | Meta | Codename shells: Greater Kudu, Raven Northbrook, Stadion, Wobniar, Pinnacle Mountain |
| OpenAI · Oracle (Stargate) | Doña Ana County | OpenAI | Per-site developer LLCs (Crusoe/Lancium at Abilene, etc.) |
⏳ No verification date recorded · changes over months · Source: Operator ownership & filing-LLC naming patterns — compiled from operator releases and county filings, then checked against SEC EDGAR full-text search. Composite, not a single citation: look the entity up yourself before naming it in a filing
Each row carries its own attribution level — first-party rows come from the operator's own site, but colocation and REIT ownership was compiled from trade press and never passed an independent fact-check. Check the attribution column before citing a row.
4Every data center already built in New Mexico
The campuses above are the ones GridWatch tracks by operator and filing LLC. For the full inventory — street addresses of every existing facility, including the smaller colocation and network sites — DataCenterMap keeps a public directory for New Mexico.
Browse the New Mexico directory →
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
5What communities in New Mexico have won
- Los Lunas (Meta) — A water agreement with terms: the March 2025 village agreement with Greater Kudu LLC (Meta's filing entity) guarantees up to 3M gallons/day but suspends supply in a declared Stage 3 water emergency. Meta also funds eight Rio Grande watershed restoration projects, ~172M gallons/year Source 1 · Source 2 · verified 2026-08-05
6Your regulator
New Mexico Public Regulation Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA New Mexico electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
7Where the New Mexico paper trail lives
Air & environmental permits: New Mexico Environment Dept. — Air Quality Bureau
No searchable register. New Mexico does not publish a permit database you can query. A public-records request to the agency is the only route to the file.
Grid interconnection queue: Southwest Power Pool (Plains)
A routing hint only — several states are split between markets, and the serving utility is the only authority on which queue a given site is in.
These are places to look, not evidence that anything has been filed. Links were checked on 2026-08-21; search links are queries, not records.
8Your federal delegation and governor
Grades cross party — this is an issue axis, not a partisan one. A blank grade means no documented action was located, never that the official is neutral.
| Grade | Official | Documented action (sourced) | Reach them |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Michelle Lujan Grisham Democratic · Governor | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Ben Ray Luján Democratic · Senator · on the 2026 ballot | No documented action on data centers located Guardrails Introduced a bipartisan bill creating a 30% tax credit for onsite water-recycling systems at industrial facilities, explicitly including data centers. sources | site · contact |
| A | Martin Heinrich Democratic · Senator · next on the ballot 2030 | Introduced the GRID Savings Act (2026) — large electricity users pay for grid infrastructure; opposes moratoriums as a race to the bottom. — Sen. Heinrich (ENR Ranking Member) — GRID Savings Act, large users pay for the grid (2026) Guardrails Beyond the GRID Savings Act already on file, Heinrich co-signed a bipartisan letter backing FERC rulemaking on large-load interconnection, said at a March 2026 hearing that data centers must bear their own connection costs, and told Latitude Media that developers show "a healthy dose of arrogance" toward host communities. sources | site · contact |
| — | Melanie A. Stansbury Democratic · Representative 1 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Gabe Vasquez Democratic · Representative 2 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Teresa Leger Fernandez Democratic · Representative 3 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
Roster: regenerated by scripts/refresh_officials.py (Senate XML + congress-legislators + current governors).
Write to your senators → Your senators in detail → Full officials scorecard → Find your state legislators →
92026 U.S. Senate race
PVI D+4 · Seat held by Ben Ray Luján (Democratic) · Incumbent renominated
Ben Ray Luján (Democratic) · incumbent No record found
No documented statement or action on data centers located. Not scored — see how this page treats silence.
Tech & utility PAC money: $41,000 from 11 committees (FEC, cycle 2026, pulled 2026-08-26) — FEC record
Larry Marker (Republican) No record found
No documented statement or action on data centers located. Not scored — see how this page treats silence.
Ballot roster: state candidate list (read 2026-08-25).
102026 U.S. House races in New Mexico (3)
A documented data-center record exists in 2 of 3 districts. A candidate with no badge colour has said nothing we could locate — that is a gap in the record, not a neutral position. ★ marks an incumbent.
| District | PVI | Incumbent | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| NM-1 | D+7 | Melanie Stansbury | Melanie Stansbury ★ Didi Okpareke |
| NM-2 | EVEN | Gabe Vasquez | Gabe Vasquez ★ Greg Cunningham |
| NM-3 | D+3 | Teresa Leger Fernandez | Martin Zamora Teresa Leger Fernández |
The documented records (2 districts)
NM-1
Melanie Stansbury (Democratic) · incumbent Guardrails
Demanded water accountability for Project Jupiter from five NM state officials
- Formal letter to five NM state officials demanding written answers on Project Jupiter's water use, water rights, permits, and Rio Grande Compact compliance; called it 'an important test case for how New Mexico evaluates major industrial water users' (2026-08-24 — source)
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-11.
NM-2
Gabe Vasquez (Democratic) · incumbent Guardrails
Called for Socorro County moratorium; co-sponsored FAIR Data Act and Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act
- Publicly called on Socorro County commissioners to approve temporary data center moratorium before their June vote (2026-06-09 — source)
- Co-sponsored FAIR Data Act (H.R. 9655): prevents data center projects from raising energy costs for residential customers and small businesses (2026-08-25 — source)
- Co-sponsored Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act (H.R. 9825): mandates disclosure of energy and water usage with fines up to $20,000/day for non-compliance (2026-08-25 — source)
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-11.
Recent mentions (1) — automated, not verified
Headlines that name this candidate and mention data centers or AI. Matched by a script, read by nobody. A mention is a lead, not a record — do not cite one as a position.
11Latest New Mexico data center news
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State municipal league: New Mexico Municipal League