Rep. Gabe Vasquez Demands Accountability from Data Center Developers, Reiterates New Mexicans Must Have Final Say on Our Land, Air, Water, and Way of Life

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) announced his support for two new bills to hold massive data center developers accountable, protect New Mexico families from higher electricity costs, and give communities the information they need to weigh the costs and benefits and decide whether to allow these projects to move forward. 

“New Mexico’s water, air, and resources belong to us, not to billionaires from coastal states who see an opportunity to extract profit from our land. I’ve been appalled at the backroom deals, silencing of dissenting voices, shady NDAs and shell companies, and the overall lack of transparency from those who seek to do business in our state,” said Vasquez. “New Mexico should absolutely compete for the jobs and technology of the future, but we are not going to sell out our water, our clean air, or our way of life to do it. If you want to do business here, you need to be transparent, listen to local residents, and most importantly, prove to New Mexicans that projects will serve, not steal from, our communities.” 

Vasquez announced that he is championing the following legislation to put new guardrails in place around data center proposals: 

• The FAIR Data Act (H.R. 9655), which would stop data center projects from driving up energy bills for families and small businesses. 
  • The bill would force large corporate electricity users to pay their own way, protecting residential customers and small businesses from being forced to foot the bill for costs related to massive data centers, including increased rates and electric grid upgrades needed to serve massive data centers. 
• The Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act (H.R. 9825), which requires data center developers to transparently disclose their energy and water usage. 
  • The bill would force developers to make information regarding data center energy and water consumption available to state and local governments that have or are considering new data center projects in their communities and force noncompliant data centers to pay fines up to $20,000 per day.

A Victory in Socorro: Vasquez has already demonstrated his willingness to stand up to data center developers when communities are not being heard and respected. Earlier this year, after residents on both sides of the aisle in Socorro County raised serious concerns about a proposal to build one of the largest data centers in the world in their backyard, Vasquez was the only statewide or federal official to stand with residents and publicly call for an end to the proposal. In response to Vasquez’s public leadership, the foreign company behind the proposal pulled out, and Socorro County commissioners unanimously approved a one-year moratorium to give the community time to develop appropriate safeguards. 

Mostly recently, Vasquez condemned the use of force to stifle local opposition at a community meeting in Doña Ana County on Project Jupiter. 

Vasquez’s support of the legislation announced today builds on his ongoing work to hold data center developers accountable to local communities, which includes: 

• Leading the Energy Bills Relief Act, which includes a provision directing states to enact policies to protect consumers from utility rate increases stemming from data center energy demands. 
• Championing bill language during the FY27 appropriations process that requested the inclusion of report language directing the Department of Energy to develop a National Strategic Data Center Plan to guide the responsible growth of data center infrastructure across the United States.

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