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RESISTING DIRTY DATA CENTERS
New Energy Economy is leading the fight against AI driven climate destruction in New Mexico
New Mexico is experiencing a flood of new data center and energy infrastructure projects, pitched as "economic development innovation,” that will extend fossil fuel dependence at the expense of New Mexico utility ratepayers and our environment. The convergence of the AI boom with associated rising electricity demand, New Mexico’s weak and fragmented regulatory environment and expanses of cheap, rural land have data center developers like Blackstone, Borderplex and others salivating over our state. New Energy Economy is engaging at the local and state level against polluting projects that threaten our people, our water and our climate.
Blackstone's Plan to Acquire PNM is a Plan to Colonize New Mexico for AI
Blackstone, the largest private equity firm in the world, is seeking to acquire PNM for $11.5 billion. They are not coming to improve service; they are coming to extract resources and wealth from New Mexico in service of AI expansion.
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The fight against a Blackstone buyout of our largest utility is critical because they have already invested more than $160 billion to expand their data center portfolio and admitted their plan to nationalize the model they developed in Indiana - creation of a parallel, unregulated utility designed to fast-track fossil fueled data center development. Sean Klimczak, Blackstone’s global head of infrastructure, and an "expert witness" in the Blackstone case, recently admitted in an interview that the company wants to replicate its Indiana GenCo model nationally. Mr. Klimczak is quoted saying:
“What it allows us to do is create a separate entity that is legally and practically distinct from the utility but provides meaningful benefit to the utility. [GenCo] is a sacrosanct independent entity that is providing more than 100 percent of the power that the data centres will need and it allows us to move as quickly as the hyperscalers need to create the required power generation while also building our own power.”
Blackstone's public claims that they are not planning to build data centers in New Mexico are ludicrous. Their national investment strategy is built on the expansion of AI.
We are working on all fronts, leading an aggressive legal fight, educating people across New Mexico, who are showing up in droves to oppose the deal at PRC hearings, and engaging with grassroots groups across the state to coordinate opposition.
Data Center Developers are Targeting Communities Across New Mexico
From Socorro to Raton to Sierra to Doña Ana County and everywhere in between, New Mexico communities are being targeted by data center developers who make big promises to community leaders but downplay the significant impacts their projects will have on air, water and quality of life.
Data Center Impacts include:
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Extreme Water Consumption and Pollution - Hyperscale data centers need massive cooling systems, each of which has extensive water impacts, which are often kept secret. In water-cooled systems, only fresh drinking water can be used by data centers due to concerns of corrosion and bacterial growth. In addition, the water can’t be recycled – 80% of it evaporates while the remaining is discharged to municipal wastewater facilities. Other cooling systems, such as air-cooled, which are known for their excessive noise, and closed-loop systems, require massive amounts of energy to operate. Closed-loop systems rely on a concentrated cocktail of chemicals to prevent corrosion and release nitrite, glycol, heavy metals and PFAS when they are periodically drained to prevent buildup.
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Rural Land Destruction - Due to their need for massive amounts of energy, data centers were first concentrated in or near major metro areas with large power grids. Now facing rising costs and limits in the public grid, we are seeing land grabs by Big Tech into rural areas where generations of farmers are facing pressure to give up their land. States with cheap land, faster approval processes, fewer environmental and labor regulations, and tax incentives are seeing a boom in data center construction. New Mexico lawmakers have been laying out the red carpet for data center developers with SB 170 and HB 93.
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Maddening Noise Pollution - Data centers don’t emit high-frequency, ear-piercing sounds that easily damage hearing, but a constant low-frequency humming noise that has maddening effects on neighbors who cannot escape, destroying quality of life and property values. Long-term exposure to low-frequency noise can lead to cognitive impairment, sleep disturbances, stress, anxiety, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. ​
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Extreme Heat Island Effects - Researchers have documented how data centers are creating “heat islands,” warming the land around them by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit, and making life hotter for more than 340 million people. One researcher likened it to blowing an enormous hot air dryer into your neighborhood 24/7.
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Toxic Air Pollution - Power generation is the largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the world. In the frenzy for AI and data center expansion, many tech corporations are assembling fossil fueled microgrids - offgrid systems - to bring their data centers online faster. Microgrids powered by gas turbines are known to emit harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx), greenhouse gases (GHGs), and hazardous air pollutants. In addition to the massive amounts of energy data centers consume while operating, data centers also rely on diesel generators for backup power, which release pollutants and toxins that cause asthma, cancer, heart attacks, and cognitive decline.
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Higher Electricity and Gas Costs - When data centers do connect to utility grids they raise rates for residential customers, who subsidize the generation and transmission lines built for them. Even gas powered microgrids will result in increased gas costs because they are driving up demand for a scarce resource, making gas more expensive.
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DARE TO STRUGGLE, DARE TO WIN
Blackstone is coming to New Mexico for one thing - to power its AI ambitions using New Mexico energy resources, water, land and utility ratepayers to fund infrastructure for a massive data center buildout.
READ more about our fight against a Blackstone takeover of PNM
We are opposing Project Jupiter air permit applications, advocating for the strongest possible data center regulations in Santa Fe County and supporting advocates around the state seeking to protect their own communities.
New Energy Economy joined Third Act New Mexico to help ensure that Santa Fe County passed a strong Data Center Moratorium Ordinance that we hope can be used as a model for communities around New Mexico.
Those promises about economic growth and high paying jobs? They're pretty empty.
​Across the US, states are disproportionately giving away hundreds of millions in tax breaks to some of the richest companies in history. Nearly 60% of hyperscale data center infrastructure serves Amazon, Google, and Microsoft alone, Big Tech corporations with a collective market cap approaching $9 trillion USD. And yet cities and states give these corporations major tax breaks to entice data center construction. These exemptions are resulting in billions of dollars in lost tax revenue for state and local governments. Texas, for example, surpassed $1 billion in exemptions in fiscal 2025 after the state initially estimated it would lose only $130 million!
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Data centers create very few permanent jobs. Most jobs created are construction jobs, which can last less than a year, often less than three. One report found that even the largest data centers generally employ fewer than 150 permanent workers, and some have as few as 25. Data from Indiana shows that data centers create 100 times fewer jobs than other types of economic development, by energy used!
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Across the country, hyperscale data center projects are being fast-tracked and approved in secrecy behind non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and closed-door meetings.
Moratoriums are needed to buy time for development of critical protections for our communities.
The propaganda of AI is a massive cover-up for the violence that it is Being weaponized for – surveillance, autonomized killing, racialized violence, genocide, KEEPING PEOPLE CRIMINALIZED AND INCARCERATED, and the creation of a permanent underclass. AI is also turbocharging climate DESTRUCTION AND disinformation.
There are currently 11,426 data centers globally. More than 40% of those are in the US.
"LAST HUMAN STANDING"
BY PORTIA ROY
A Data Center Moratorium Tool Kit
for New Mexico
Data center opposition often depends on local communities because zoning and planning decisions are made at the local level. We developed these resources to help New Mexicans take action at the city and county level.
Your city or county could be next - with your help.
