El Pasoans weighing in on data center

A controversial data center project is being proposed for unused land at Fort Bliss in Far East El Paso, near Montana Avenue and Loop 375. The U.S. Army has selected global investment firm Carlyle Group to develop and operate the facility. Project leaders from both the Army and Carlyle Group held a listening session to gather community feedback. They assured residents that the commercial data center, which will provide computing power to expand the Army's AI capabilities, will be completely self-contained. This includes generating its own power to avoid impacting El Paso's electric grid and proposing a closed-loop water system to prevent using the city's clean water. Despite these assurances, many community members expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the project leaders provided insufficient concrete answers regarding impact studies. Residents voiced concerns that the promises were similar to past rhetoric, leaving them with the same apprehension they had prior to the session.