New Mexico Wants a Different Kind of Data Center Boom

Green Data Centers and the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council announced a partnership on September 28, 2026. It puts the state's union workforce at the center of the developer's New Mexico data center projects.

The Council is endorsing those projects as the model for responsible data center development in the state.

That endorsement comes from a statewide alliance of 14 building and construction trades unions. The release puts their membership at 8,000.

Green Data Centers develops what they call autotrophic data centers. These are facilities designed to generate their own power and produce their own water.

Solar generated on site is designed to cover more than 100% of each project's annual electricity use.

For backup, battery storage is the main source. That reduces reliance on the grid and on conventional fossil fuel generators.

Water comes from atmospheric water generation. Each facility is designed to be water neutral, producing its own supply instead of drawing down local aquifers or municipal systems.

The company is also committing to technology that lets outside parties independently verify their energy, water, and environmental claims.

Council Executive Director Jeffrey L. Steele put the debate plainly: "The question shouldn't simply be whether or not we build them. The question should be how we build them, who benefits, who does the work and what commitments developers must make to New Mexico communities."

Green Data Centers CEO Jason Bak answered directly: "Our answer is that the people who build and operate these facilities should be New Mexicans, trained in New Mexico, earning family-sustaining wages. This partnership puts that commitment in writing."

The Council calls this the first partnership of its kind in New Mexico. It's also the first where they've made renewable energy, water stewardship, and environmental performance explicit union priorities. Those now sit beside their longtime focus on wages, workplace safety, and Registered Apprenticeship.

The partnership is also built to avoid importing a workforce that leaves once the project is complete.

Look past the server halls to the scope list. Solar sized to exceed a facility's annual electricity use, battery backup, and atmospheric water generation go well beyond a standard data center package. Suppliers and installers in those lanes should get on this developer's radar early.

The bigger signal is the Council's ask. They want this to be the bar other developers meet or exceed. Until sites and schedules surface, the standard itself is the story. Union contractors now have a documented set of commitments to point to the next time a data center developer comes to town.

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