Santa Fe County NM Passes Unanimous 18-Month Data Center Moratorium at 1 MW Threshold

The Santa Fe County, NM Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously July 2 to adopt an 18-month moratorium on data-center development. Public comment pushed the power threshold down from a proposed 100 MW to just 1 MW (roughly 1,000 homes) and extended the duration from 12 to 18 months — a significant tightening from the initial proposal. No specific project triggered the moratorium; it is proactive. Commissioners cited groundwater depletion, impacts on acequia irrigation systems, grid reliability, and environmental justice.

Santa Fe’s action follows the same statewide water-scarcity concerns already documented in Dona Ana County’s Oracle Project Jupiter fight (2026-06-01–dona-ana-county-nm-oracle-project-jupiter-water-discrepancy), making New Mexico a state with two separate counties now moving on datacenter water-use restrictions within roughly a month of each other.