Data centers in Valencia County, New Mexico: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Meta's campus in Los Lunas began in 2016 as a single $250 million building beside Interstate 25, south of Albuquerque. It now has seven operating buildings and three more under development on a parcel of roughly 750 acres. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported it has brought Los Lunas an extra $145 million in gross receipts tax and helped grow the village from about 17,300 people in 2020 to close to 20,000 in 2024. "I don't think that anyone could have expected a company this big," said Victoria Archuleta, the village's senior economic developer. Meta has financed its build-outs with industrial revenue bonds from the village: about $30 billion for the first buildings in 2016 and a little more than $40 billion in 2021, the Valencia County News-Bulletin reported.

In December 2024 the village council unanimously approved an intent resolution for a third series of bonds, up to six series of up to $7.5 billion each, for Meta's affiliate Greater Kudu LLC. They would fund two more buildings, around $800 million, which the village said would be Meta's first dedicated to AI and machine learning, adding about 30 full-time jobs. "I'm excited about the concept of the high-tech around here," said council member James Runyon. The New Mexican later reported that the council had approved the bonds. The equipment bonds bring an abatement, a reduction, of gross receipts and compensating tax, the village's bond attorney, Jill Sweeney, explained.

The costs are in water and power. According to Meta's own 2024 sustainability report, as cited by the New Mexican, the campus used about 75 million gallons of water and more than a million megawatt-hours of electricity in 2023, while much of Valencia County was in extreme drought. Meta says it has helped add 885 megawatts of renewable energy and 100 megawatts of battery storage in New Mexico. A PNM substation, equipment that steps power down for local use, came online in November 2024 to serve it and the neighboring business park. "It does take a lot of power and resources to actually operate a data center," Archuleta said, adding that "at the end of the day, if our utility can't deliver, then nothing can come here."

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.