Crowd packs Don Haskins Rec Center at El Paso’s first AI data center policy meeting

Residents of El Paso, Texas, attended the city's first community meeting on a new data center policy framework, expressing significant frustration over the meeting's format and the city's process for gathering public input. The standing-room-only crowd at the Don Haskins Recreational Center voiced concerns that their feedback was not being heard effectively, with some attendees, including Diana Ramirez of the Amanecer People's Project and community members Sebastian Coronado and Sylvia, criticizing the format of small group discussions and sticky note submissions. The policy framework, directed by the El Paso City Council, aims to guide future data center projects by addressing issues such as land use, infrastructure, and utilities, aligning with the city's broader Climate Action Plan. Laura Cruz-Acosta, director of communications for the City of El Paso, emphasized the importance of community feedback in developing an open policy. Residents, including Ramirez and Sylvia, also raised environmental concerns, particularly regarding the high water and electricity demands of data centers in the desert region, and potential light and noise pollution, especially on the northeast side of the city, as mentioned by Tito Cortes. Questions were raised about why the policy is being developed now, after a major project like the Meta AI data center is already underway. Cruz-Acosta stated that the idea was a community directive from earlier climate action plan discussions. However, it remains unclear whether any new rules from the framework would apply to projects already in progress, such as the Meta facility, with Cruz-Acosta unable to confirm this.