Texas Data Center Rebellion: Amanecer People's Project and Meta's Threat to El Paso, Texas

Meta's data center project in El Paso, Texas, initially an $800 million, 300-megawatt facility, has expanded into a $10 billion, one-gigawatt development. The project, approved in December 2023 but not publicly disclosed as Meta until September 2025, is facing significant community pushback led by groups like the Amanecer People’s Project. This opposition intensified after the approval of "Project Jupiter," a $165 billion generative AI data center split between OpenAI and Oracle located on the New Mexico side of the El Paso area. Matthew Rodriguez of the Amanecer People’s Project highlighted that the community is particularly upset about the project's massive energy and water demands. El Paso already grapples with outdated infrastructure, including broken water pipes, frequent blackouts, and brownouts, as well as severe water scarcity in the desert region. Meta's approval to use 1.5 million gallons of water daily and its consumption of a gigawatt of power for only 50 jobs are seen as unsustainable and detrimental to local residents. Further exacerbating community frustration are the 30-year tax abatements granted to Meta. Critics argue that these benefits primarily serve a small group of beneficiaries rather than the broader El Paso community. Rodriguez also noted that much of the land for these developments, including those in nearby Socorro and Clint, Texas, has been rezoned for industrial use, prompting a local response. The Mayor of Socorro recently enacted a moratorium on detention centers and paused data center developments, demonstrating a connection between the perceived unlimited resources backing these large-scale projects and local infrastructure struggles.