Green Data Center, Socorro, New Mexico

Green Data's 2-gigawatt data center planned for 10,000 acres of New Mexico Tech land at Socorro, in Socorro County, New Mexico, was cancelled on June 2, 2026, when the university said it would not go forward. The Canadian company, led by chief executive Jason Bak, had proposed a 10-gigawatt solar and data center project west of M Mountain and north of U.S. 60, with battery storage for round-the-clock operation and water drawn from the desert air.

"During the initial phase of this process, we identified several material considerations that led both parties to mutually conclude that proceeding under the current framework is not the right path at this time," said New Mexico Tech president Michael Jackson. He cited the university's available acreage, the difficulty of integrating other renewable sources and of vetting so large a project, and said NMT remained open to revisiting the idea.

A petition against the project had passed 4,600 signatures. On May 11, the Village of Magdalena, about 27 miles west, formally opposed the project unless it could be shown not to harm local water, the environment or community character.

A week after New Mexico Tech's announcement, on Tuesday, June 9, the Socorro County Commission unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on data centers and related infrastructure, and formed a Blue Ribbon Committee to study the issue. Fourteen residents spoke for the moratorium, urging protection of water, ranch land and scientific assets such as the Very Large Array, and the crowd of more than 80 applauded the vote.

"We understand that some Socorro County residents are skeptical," Bak said, promising about $50 million a year in community benefits and saying he wanted to join the committee.

Cecilia Rosacker of Inform Socorro called the moratorium a big win, and the group plans to ask the city of Socorro to adopt its own. Bak said Green Data would not make any decisions and would "get a sense of what emerges from the moratorium."