The Doña Ana County Commission's decision to approve up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds for Project Jupiter is fueling pushback from New Mexico State University students and organizers statewide over hyperscale AI data centers.
At a rally in Las Cruces, speakers pressed for a statewide ban on data center developments and said the plan reflects New Mexico's long history of resource extraction.
Here's what to know
According to Source NM, dozens of NMSU students from Youth United for Climate Crisis Action assembled with environmental and political groups, elected officials, and residents from southern Doña Ana County who said Project Jupiter would affect them.
Organizers from across New Mexico spent three days meeting to train activists and plan a statewide anti-data-center campaign before lawmakers reconvene in January for the 2027 session.
"Together we really are stronger than separately, and I think being together in person here in Las Cruces was a great way to see that," YUCCA member Alex Atcitty said, per Source NM. "... We are trying to be uncompromising with our rejection of AI. We do not want to stop halfway with guardrails or honestly even a moratorium. We want to push for a ban."
More background
Since county commissioners voted in September to authorize up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds for the project, Project Jupiter has emerged as a central controversy in southern New Mexico.
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Stop Project Jupiter organizer Lennie Dupass, a first-year NMSU criminal justice student, said he stayed for seven hours to listen to public comment before the vote. In his view, that turnout should have signaled to commissioners that the proposal deserved closer examination, according to Source NM.
Project Jupiter has also become part of a wider argument about what artificial intelligence infrastructure demands from the places that host it.
AI systems may help make clean energy and other sectors more efficient, but the facilities behind them often are directly tied to the power grid and rely on cooling systems that consume large amounts of water.
Opponents of hyperscale buildouts say that when expansion outpaces planning, nearby communities may experience strained water supplies and higher costs without getting the level of benefit they were promised.
Those worries were central to Atcitty's remarks, as he called AI and the data centers that support it "extractors" that take more from New Mexico and its communities than they return, per Source NM.
What's being done?
YUCCA leaders said their work includes student walkouts and community demonstrations across New Mexico.
According to Source NM, YUCCA communications manager Sophie LaBorwit said University of New Mexico students are preparing to march down Central Avenue in Albuquerque to U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich's office in protest of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, which demonstrators said would weaken environmental protections.
Organizers also have events planned in Santa Fe and Las Cruces, where New Mexico School for the Arts students are expected to protest at the Roundhouse and NMSU students and community members are slated to gather at the Plaza de Las Cruces.
Dupass said he is also focused on the ballot box, telling Source NM that he supports Daisy Maldonado in the District 1 Doña Ana County Commission race and sees her as a "turning point" for the commission.
"We know what New Mexico is worth. Our state has been used for decades solely for its resources, but our value is not determined by how much can be taken from us," Dupass said.
Where can I learn more?
Opposition to hyperscale AI data centers is surfacing well beyond Project Jupiter.
• The New Mexico Supreme Court stopped a permit process, giving residents rare breathing room.
• In Texas and New Mexico, AI data centers threatened climate plans by increasing power demand.
• Arizona AG Kris Mayes urged a statewide halt on data centers as water pressure grew.
• In Skagit County, Washington, officials weighed a data center ban amid farmland fears.
• In Pima County, Arizona, leaders advanced a four-month halt on data centers' resource demands.
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