Local officials in Roswell plan to host a discussion on data centers about a year after such a project was announced in Chaves County.
The event is planned for 2 p.m., Monday, Aug. 10 at the Elks Lodge No. 969 at 1720 N. Montana Ave. in Roswell, hosted by the Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corporation and State Rep.-elect Stephen Dodson (R-59).
All interested in attending must RSVP with RCCEDC by Wednesday, Aug. 5 to get a seat at the no-cost event.
In August 2025 the Chaves County Board of Commissioners approved a special use permit for Zenith Volts Corporation of Wyoming to build a data center near Lake Arthur, 20 miles south of Roswell. The $6 billion project would construct a 300-acre data center on an 8,500-acre parcel.
According to a press release from Zenith announcing approval of the special use permit, the center would generate 1.25 gigawatts of power and create 140 long-term jobs.
The company plans to bring the center in the full operation by November 2027.
Details of the exact agenda for the upcoming meeting have still not been finalized but Dodson said it will include a presentation by Matthew Gonzalez, founder and CEO of Chingon Strategies, a Santa Fe-based public policy and government relations firm that has done work in energy policy. Dodson added that he is unsure if the meeting will be livestreamed or later recorded or posted online.
The forum, Dodson said, is an educational event meant to answer questions and address misconceptions about the data centers, as well as the impacts they can have on economic development, consumption of natural resources and other facts about such projects. He added that it is aimed at an audience that does not have a fixed opinion one way or another about the centers.
“As these facilities expand across the Southwest, modern designs are adapting to arid environments and overcoming historical challenges. We encourage productive, good-faith dialogue focused on factual resource metrics and updated design standards,” Dodson wrote in a text message to the Roswell Tribune.
Dodson’s event has come as the construction and operation of data centers across the country has sparked discussion, including locally.
He pointed Project Jupiter, a $165 billion project for a proposed 1,400-acre AI data center campus near Santa Teresa, according to the Doña Ana County government’s website.
The project has ignited a firestorm of controversy about the data center’s impacts on the local community and environment. A July 28 meeting between leading proponents of Project Jupiter and the Doña Ana County Commission became violent last month when critics of the project physically clashed with supporters when the commissioners cut off public comment.
Three people were subsequently arrested at the meeting and charged with disorderly conduct.
