Millions Spent on Climate Plans at Risk as Three Data Centres Threaten New Mexico and El Paso Goals

A rendering of Project Jupiter’s data centre campus in New Mexico, whose potential emissions raise climate concerns. (Credit: Project Jupiter Official Website, Source: https://projectjupitertogether.com/)

Millions of dollars spent developing climate action plans for New Mexico and El Paso could be undermined by three major data centre projects near the Texas-New Mexico border. Proposed power plants for two of the facilities could emit a combined total of about 10 million US tons of greenhouse gases annually, according to regulatory filings and estimates cited by El Paso Matters.

Neither area's climate plan accounted for the potential impact of the proposed developments, which are advancing amid growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI). New Mexico published its climate plan in December 2025, setting emissions-reduction goals for 2050, while El Paso adopted its own climate strategy several months later.