New Mexico

New Mexico capital outlay: Here’s what your county and city gets

Published

2 years ago

February 27, 2024

New Mexico capital outlay: Here’s what your county and city gets

Funding to update local public infrastructure and other projects throughout New Mexico came this year in the form of the annual Capital Outlay bill passed by the New Mexico House and Senate during the 2024 Legislative Session.

The $1.5 billion bill provided funds for local communities, advocated for by the lawmakers who represent them, to counties and cities throughout the state.

It passed both chambers unanimously and was sent to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham who can sign it into law as is or removed certain projects via “line-item vetoes.”

More: New Mexico Democrats criticized for inaction on fentanyl bills

Here’s are the key projects counties in southeast New Mexico got out of the bill.

Eddy County

Eddy County and its municipalities had $79 million in projects funded this year, compared to about $12 million last year.

$70 million – Improvements on U.S. Highway 180

$1.38 million – Sewer extension project on National Parks Highway

More: ‘Renewable’ geothermal energy boosted by bill passed by New Mexico House

$700,000 – Sheep’s Draw wellfield generators

$600,000 – Eddy County splashpad construction

$500,000 – Eddy County Healthcare Facility renovations

$600,000 – Malaga Domestic Water Consumers Sewage Works Association improvements

$200,000 – Eddy County Sheriff’s Office shooting range

$200,000 – Hope rest area improvements

More: ‘Clean fuels’ bill advances in New Mexico Senate, to make oil companies pay for pollution

Carlsbad

$1 million – Double Eagle waterline replacement

$600,000 – Southeast New Mexico College Vocational Technology Building construction

$500,000 – Carlsbad Riverwalk Recreational Center improvements

$250,000 – Equipment purchases at the National Cave and Karst Research Institute

More: 2024 Legislative session wrap up: Here’s how energy and environment bills fared

Artesia

$500,000 – HVAC construction at Artesia Jr. High School kitchen

$495,000 – Artesia generator purchase

$585,000 – upgrades and equipment at the Artesia Special Hospital District

$125,000 – Truck driving training academy

Loving

$750,000 – South 6^th Street improvements

Hope

$300,000 – Pump house improvements

More: Tax credits, rape kits & highways: Find out what bills your Eddy Co. Senators are sponsoring

Otero County

Otero County and its municipalities received $13 million in projects, compared to about $14.2 million last year

$2.1 million – Purchases and construction for Mescalero Apache tribe facilities

Alamogordo

$1.5 million – New Mexico State University – Alamogordo fine arts theater renovations

$1.1 million – NMSU- Alamogordo facility demolition

$1 million – Museum of Space History improvements

$695,000 – Otero County golf facility improvements

More: Short term state revenue loss for Hobbs passes committee, bills for Carlsbad stalled

Cloudcroft

$750,000 – Water treatment facility improvements

$359,000 – Public restroom expansion

Tularosa

$350,000 – Community Ditch Association repairs

Lincoln County

Lincoln County and its municipalities got about $5.2 million this year, compared with $8.5 million last year.

$1.1 million – Enchanted Forest water system replacement

$450,000 – Ft. Stanton veterans conference center construction

$265,000 – Crime scene vehicle purchases

Ruidoso

$500,000 – Ruidoso forest and watershed improvements

$225,000 – Eastern New Mexico University trades education facility renovations

Capitan

$100,000 – Capital water facility solar system construction

Carrizozo

$750,000 – Lincoln County Detention Center water and sewer upgrade

$350,000 – Water system information technology purchases

Lea County

Lea County and its municipalities had $86.7 million in project funded this year, compared to about $12.7 million last year

$75 million – New Mexico Highway 128 improvements

$2 million – Construction on West County Road and New Mexico Highway 208

$400,000 – Lea County event center amphitheater

$420,000 – New Mexico Junior College improvements

Hobbs

$1.5 million – HAZMAT rescue vehicles

$1.4 million – Hobbs Public Safety Center Construction

$525,000 – Hobbs water well construction

Lovington

$250,000 – Library roof and plumbing repairs

$266,000 – Medical transport vans

Chaves County

Chaves County received $16.7 million this year compared with $23.7 million last year

$500,000 – Macho Draw flood control repair

Roswell

$3 million – Roswell Air Center improvements

$2 million – Youth Challenge Building renovations

$2 million – ENMU Roswell nursing center expansion

$1 million – World Champion Park facility upgrade

Hagerman

$700,000 – Water System improvements

Dexter

$700,000 – Lake Van Drive improvements

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

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New Mexico

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Published

10 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation
| Las Cruces Sun-News

After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.

It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.

Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.

Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:

Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).

What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.

That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.

With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.

New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.

But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.

Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.

What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

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New Mexico

New Mexico maintains full childhood vaccine recommendations despite HHS rollback

Published

23 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico maintains full childhood vaccine recommendations despite HHS rollback

SANTA FE, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) – The New Mexico Department of Health says it will continue to recommend the full schedule of childhood vaccines.

State officials announced the move Tuesday, directly defying a new federal policy that scaled back routine immunization guidance.

The announcement comes after U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS), under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., reduced the number of vaccines it recommends for all children.

The New Mexico Department of Health stated the federal changes were “not based on new scientific evidence or safety data.”

“New Mexico will not follow the federal government in walking away from decades of proven public health practice,” said Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. “Our recommendations remain unchanged.”

State health officials sought to reassure parents, emphasizing that vaccines remain widely available and covered by insurance.

“We know this is confusing for parents, but the science is clear: vaccines are safe, effective, and save children’s lives,” said Dr. Miranda Durham, chief medical officer for NMDOH.

All childhood vaccinations will continue to be covered under programs like Medicaid and the federal Vaccines for Children Program.

The state encourages parents to consult their healthcare providers using the American Academy of Pediatrics’ immunization schedule.

RECOMMENDED: CDC cuts childhood vaccine list, sparking healthcare professionals’ concerns

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