Hey Sierra County! Spaceport America, which is under state jurisdiction at the Secretary of Economic Development’s office, has outlined in great detail their plans to build not one, but six data center facilities in Sierra County over the next several years. It’s all right here in their “Master Plan” document from last year. Just search the document for the term “data center,” which appears 39 times, to hear all about their goals, which culminate in leasing to a 100,000-square-foot data center client in 2032.

Spaceport’s first prospective data center client matches the description of Green Data, the company that was recently shown the door in Socorro, when that county commission passed a one-year moratorium on AI data centers in April of this year. Charles Hurley of Spaceport America confirmed to the Sierra County Citizen that they are finalizing a lease to build what they are calling “a sustainable, high-performance computer center” in Sierra County. If this prospective client is indeed Green Data, this is a Canadian company whose CEO has claimed they will run a hyperscale AI data center using only solar power and source most of the water for their project from atmospheric generators that pull water from the air itself–in the New Mexico desert! The only problem is, they have never successfully built and maintained a data center before, let alone one with such cutting-edge, sustainable technology. In fact, this company has left a string of broken promises and failed projects everywhere they’ve been.

Another problem with this arrangement is that the Office of the State Engineer has confirmed that Spaceport barely has enough water for its own operations. Spaceport also receives its power through the Sierra County Electric Cooperative, just like many of us. Where are they planning to get the water and power needed to host six data centers in Sierra County? How will that impact our utility costs, water access, air quality and noise level, in one of the poorest counties in the state?

Please sign this petition to ask our county commission to follow in the footsteps of Socorro County and more recently, Santa Fe, to pass a moratorium on AI data centers in Sierra County during its next meeting on July 21 at 1712 N. Date Street at 10 AM. The county may not have jurisdiction over Spaceport America, but it’s important that our local politicians understand this is an issue that is wildly unpopular across partisan lines, with 65% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats polled agreeing they do not want a data center built where they live. We will also be supporting this proposed state-wide ban on AI data centers, which would neatly take care of our Spaceport problem, so please stay tuned for more information about how we plan to assist with that effort. For more updates, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

For now, though, help us tell our county commission we want no data centers in Sierra County!