ABC-7 gets behind-the-scenes look at Project Jupiter data center construction site in Santa Teresa

SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (KVIA) -- For the first time, ABC-7 got a behind-the-scenes look at Project Jupiter, the massive data center under construction in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. ABC-7 evening anchor Mauricio Casillas toured the site with photojournalist Jesus Rodriguez.

The project, led by tech giant Oracle, is expected to bring jobs and major investment to the region. But it also raises questions about resource use, transparency and the project's potential impact on the community.

Members of the local media were bussed around to different locations on the Project Jupiter campus. The first stop was the area where fuel cells will be installed to power the data center. Oracle says the fuel cells generate electricity without combustion, which the company says will help lower emissions. Once the project is complete, Oracle expects the site to have 7,000 fuel cells.

“The entire campus overall, from a land perspective, is about 700 acres,” said Mahesh Thiagarajan, Executive Vice President and head of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

That's about the equivalent of 530 football fields put together.

The second stop was the equipment staging area, where officials discussed the project's economic impact.

According to project officials, about 4,400 construction workers are employed at the site, including more than 600 from Doña Ana County.

“[Construction workers make] $40 an hour. Plus, it's kind of the starting range for those data center operations jobs. We have good benefits, matching 401(k), all the perks,” said Mike Casey, Chief Operations Officer at STACK Infrastructure. STACK is the developer of the data center.

During the final stop, ABC-7 saw one of the project's cooling centers in the distance before entering one of the buildings under construction.

Oracle says Project Jupiter will use a closed-loop cooling system designed to recycle water. The company estimates the data center will use an amount of non-potable water equivalent to the needs of nine households to operate.

Data centers have faced growing opposition in communities across the country. A Gallup poll conducted over the summer found that seven out of 10 Americans did not support data centers being built in their own communities.

(ABC-7 Evening anchor Mauricio Casillas during hard-hat tour of Project Jupiter. Photo: Jesus Rodriguez/KVIA)

“Data centers nationwide are unpopular right now,” ABC-7 anchor Mauricio Casillas said during the tour. “A lot of people here in southern New Mexico, they don't know what Oracle does. They have a distrust of big tech companies...Why should they trust you?"

Thiagarajan acknowledged that building trust takes time, particularly when a company introduces a project of this scale to a community.

“When someone is new or something is new, there is inherently a lack of trust, or a lack of — hey, show me progress,” Thiagarajan said.

He pointed to commitments Oracle has made to the region, including $50 million in tax benefits designated for a water infrastructure fund and plans to hire New Mexico workers.

Thiagarajan said more than 1,200 New Mexicans have been hired as part of the effort.

“We take a step back and you go, what is trust? Trust is earned through actions,” Thiagarajan said.

Oracle has announced plans to launch a public dashboard once the data center is complete. The dashboard is expected to give the public access to information about the facility's air quality, noise, heat and water usage.

Construction is expected to be completed by 2028.