By Gary Montoya, School Board President, Central Consolidated Schools
I encourage my fellow New Mexicans to support the Project Jupiter data center being constructed in Doña Ana County. This project will generate substantial tax revenue to help fund the education of our children and help our communities. It will also create family-supporting jobs along with career paths for our graduates. We need to welcome new infrastructure projects if we are going to move our state forward, create opportunities for the next generation and bring the benefits of the tech revolution to New Mexico.
I am the school board president for Central Consolidated Schools (CCSD), which serves students across western San Juan County, including communities on the Navajo Nation. I see firsthand how much our students want and need careers that pay well and offer more choices for their future. Skilled trades careers can take them wherever they want to go or allow them to stay close to home where they can raise their families and maintain their connection to their land, language, culture, and community. At CCSD, that is the kind of future we are working to help them build.
There is support for career and technological education (CTE) in our state. Yet, there is an inconsistency in that CTE jobs created by Project Jupiter are not welcome. Even though construction of the campus has been underway with hundreds of people working onsite, opponents have been working hard to permanently derail Project Jupiter.
I understand there are environmental concerns, but I believe the companies behind Project Jupiter are addressing those concerns. This includes completely restructuring their planned microgrid to power the data center with fuel cells and reducing its environmental impact. These companies will also be required to meet the goals of the Energy Transition Act.
New Mexico is perceived as a difficult state to do business in. Shutting down Project Jupiter will reinforce that narrative, damage our state's economy and reduce opportunities for our students. Without new and growing businesses, our state's economy will slow and force the next generation to seek jobs outside of our state and build their families and lives elsewhere.
We need to change the narrative and send the message to the rest of the country that New Mexico is open for business. We need to focus on the bigger picture and think about our children's futures and the well-being of our elders and families. Our students need an economy that will provide them with opportunities after graduation, and this data center will help do just that. In fact, CCSD has several recent graduates working as apprentices on the project. That is workforce development in action—connecting our students to family-supporting careers while giving them the opportunity to build their futures in New Mexico and maintain strong ties to their communities and culture.
Our state needs to embrace this historic opportunity in tech revolution. New Mexico has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to be a leader in tech and innovation while generating economic growth. We must help our communities flourish and ensure our graduates can find employment here at home.
At CCSD, we are focused on creating opportunities and empowering our students so they can build their futures right here in New Mexico. That's why I believe we need Project Jupiter and why I ask for the community to get behind this project while sending the message that New Mexico is the place in which to invest and operate a business.
