New Era Energy & Digital AI data center campus (near Caprock)
A Texas company plans a giant AI data center campus on about 3,500 acres in Lea County, powered by new gas plants and later nuclear. It says first power could come in 2028. It still needs state and federal permits.
Where things stand: Company holds an option to buy the land (Nov. 2025). No permits found yet.
🕒 Latest update (Nov 6, 2025): New Era Energy & Digital announced a land option for about 3,500 acres for a 7 GW AI data center campus.
What we know
- 📍 WherePrivate land near Caprock, about 45 minutes east of Roswell, Unincorporated Lea County, Lea County
- 🏢 CompanyNew Era Energy & Digital
- 🌳 Size3,500 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs7,000 megawatts (about as much as 5,600,000 homes)
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromIts own power: more than 2 GW of new gas power plants, later 5 GW or more of nuclear.
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Has the company applied for a state air permit for the gas plants? 🙋 I'll find out
- Where will the water come from? 🙋 I'll find out
- Who would use the data centers? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- Nov 6, 2025New Era Energy & Digital announced a land option for about 3,500 acres for a 7 GW AI data center campus.
Local votes and rules
📌 Other
County commissioners agreed to consider more than $134 billion in tax-break bonds (industrial revenue bonds) for a Google data center with partner Excelsior: two large buildings on 1,890 acres of county-owned land, plus a solar field about 3 miles away. No final bond vote yet. The state Board of Finance must also review any county land sale.
📌 Other
County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution with guidelines for data centers. Data centers on the public power grid must not raise rates for homes or businesses. Operators must publish yearly water use, split by use. Water-hungry evaporative cooling is not allowed.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Nuclear, natural gas power generation planned for massive New Mexico data center site · POWER Magazine · Nov 7, 2025
- New Era plans 7GW AI data center in Lea County, New Mexico, powered by gas and nuclear · DatacenterDynamics · Nov 2025
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