Maldonado promises new rules for data center growth
Democratic Doña Ana County commissioner candidate Daisy Maldonado said she would support continued public participation in Project Jupiter’s air-quality permit hearing and create an independent county air-quality control board. She also pledged to seek a moratorium on new data centers and large industrial projects until rules addressing water use, air pollution, land use and waste disposal are adopted.
Daisy Maldonado, a Democratic candidate for the Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners, said Project Jupiter, an Oracle- and OpenAI-backed artificial intelligence data center campus under construction in Santa Teresa, is moving forward despite earlier permitting obstacles. Construction is nearly 30% complete, the stays on the air-quality permit process and emergency well have been lifted, and a public hearing will continue under a newly assigned hearing officer.
Maldonado said she would support residents’ participation in the air-quality hearing and pursue a countywide air-quality control board with regulatory authority and scientific oversight. She also promised to sponsor a moratorium on new data centers and large industrial economic-development projects until comprehensive protections for water usage, air pollution, land use and waste disposal are established.