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NM — Power Infrastructure Updated January 2026

New Mexico

Power generation, transmission, storage, and interconnection topics relevant to data center power supply in New Mexico.

WECC Natural Gas Solar Wind Storage Data Center PPAs Transmission Constraints

Overview

New Mexico is in the middle of a major grid transition, replacing retiring coal plants with utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage. Two 500 kV transmission lines — SunZia and Southline — are under construction to export renewable energy from central and southern New Mexico to Arizona and regional markets. Meta has signed long-term power contracts with Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to support its Los Lunas data center expansion, making New Mexico one of the few states with publicly disclosed data center PPAs.

Generation Projects

Natural Gas

New Mexico regulators are reviewing air permit applications for Project Jupiter, a proposed data center campus in Santa Teresa. The filings describe two on-site natural gas generating stations designed to power the facility as microgrids.[1]

Solar

New Mexico utilities are advancing solar projects to replace retired coal capacity and serve new load growth.

  • Arroyo Solar & Storage: Centaurus is developing 300 MWac of solar paired with a 150 MW / 600 MWh battery system to replace generation from the San Juan coal plant.[3]
  • Sky Ranch Solar: PNM signed a PPA for 190 MW of solar to support Meta’s Los Lunas data center, with a 20-year term.[3]
  • Encino North Solar: A 20-year PPA delivers 50 MW to Meta’s Los Lunas facility.[3]
  • Rancho Viejo Solar: AES is developing 96 MW of solar in Santa Fe County, paired with 48 MW of battery storage.[4]

Wind

SunZia Wind: Pattern Energy is building what will be one of the largest wind farms in the United States, with 3,500+ MW of generation capacity in central New Mexico. The project is tied to the SunZia Transmission line, which will carry power to Arizona and regional markets.[5]

Transmission and Grid

New Mexico is building two major transmission lines to relieve export constraints and connect renewable generation to load centers.

  • SunZia Transmission: A 520-mile, ±525 kV HVDC line running from Torrance County in central New Mexico to Pinal Central substation in Arizona. The line consists of two 500 kV circuits and broke ground in 2023.[5][6]
  • Southline Transmission: A 367-mile, 345 kV line from the Afton Substation south of Las Cruces to the Saguaro Substation north of Tucson. The Bureau of Land Management issued final approval in January 2026.[7]

Both projects are critical to unlocking New Mexico’s renewable energy potential and serving regional data center load growth.

Battery Storage

New Mexico utilities are pairing battery storage with solar plants to provide dispatchable renewable energy and replace fossil fuel peaking capacity.

  • Sky Ranch Energy Storage: Meta’s PPA includes 100 MW of four-hour storage (400 MWh) co-located with Sky Ranch Solar.[3]
  • Arroyo Solar & Storage: The project includes a 150 MW / 600 MWh battery system.[3]
  • Rancho Viejo BESS: AES is building 48 MW of four-hour storage (268 MWh) paired with the Rancho Viejo Solar project in Santa Fe County.[4]
  • PNM solar-plant retrofits: PNM is seeking approval for a 120 MWh portfolio, adding five 6 MW / 24 MWh batteries to existing solar facilities.[8]

Data Center Power Agreements

Meta and PNM PPAs: Meta subsidiary Greater Kudu signed three power agreements with PNM to support the Los Lunas data center expansion. The agreements include 50 MW from Encino North Solar, 190 MW from Sky Ranch Solar, and 100 MW / 400 MWh of battery storage at Sky Ranch, all with 20-year terms.[3]

Interconnection Queue

New Mexico’s interconnection processes vary by utility and grid operator.

  • Southwest Power Pool (eastern NM): SPP manages generator interconnection in eastern New Mexico using a cluster study process. Queue data is published on SPP’s GI Queue dashboard.[9]
  • PNM and El Paso Electric (central/southern NM): Interconnection requests and transmission postings are available through the utilities’ OATI OASIS portals.[10]

Large new generation and data center loads depend on the completion of SunZia and Southline transmission projects, which are the primary near-term solutions for New Mexico’s export-constrained corridors.

What to Watch

  • Project Jupiter air permits: New Mexico’s Environment Department has flagged the Santa Teresa data center’s air quality applications as incomplete. Watch for revised permit filings and public comment opportunities.[1]
  • SunZia and Southline construction timelines: Both transmission projects are critical to unlocking New Mexico’s renewable buildout and supporting data center power supply.
  • PNM integrated resource plan: Watch for updates on how PNM plans to meet growing data center and tech load while retiring coal generation.

Sources

[1] Joshua Bowling, “NMED says data center Project Jupiter’s air quality applications ‘incomplete’ — for now,” Source New Mexico, December 19, 2025, https://sourcenm.com/2025/12/19/nmed-says-data-center-project-jupiters-air-quality-applications-incomplete-for-now/ (accessed January 8, 2026).

[2] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, “List of Power Reactor Units,” n.d., https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/list-power-reactor-units.html (accessed January 8, 2026).

[3] Energy-Storage.News, “Facebook told to rewrite energy storage contracts for New Mexico data centre,” July 1, 2021, https://www.energy-storage.news/facebook-told-to-rewrite-energy-storage-contracts-for-new-mexico-data-centre/ (accessed January 8, 2026).

[4] AES, “Rancho Viejo Solar,” n.d., https://www.aes.com/project/rancho-viejo-solar (accessed January 8, 2026).

[5] Pattern Energy, “SunZia Wind and Transmission,” n.d., https://patternenergy.com/projects/sunzia/ (accessed January 8, 2026).

[6] U.S. Department of the Interior, “Biden-Harris Administration Celebrates Groundbreaking of New SunZia Transmission Line That Will Deliver Clean, Reliable, Affordable Energy to Millions of Americans,” September 1, 2023, https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-celebrates-groundbreaking-new-sunzia-transmission-line (accessed January 8, 2026).

[7] Bureau of Land Management, “BLM Issues Final Approval for the Southline Transmission Line Project,” January 8, 2026, https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-issues-final-approval-southline-transmission-line-project (accessed January 8, 2026).

[8] Matthew Biss, “New Mexico utility picks batteries over fossil fuels, ordering BESS retrofits for solar PV plants,” Energy-Storage.News, August 25, 2025, https://www.energy-storage.news/new-mexico-utility-picks-batteries-over-fossil-fuels-ordering-bess-retrofits-for-solar-pv-plants/ (accessed January 8, 2026).

[9] Southwest Power Pool, “Generator Interconnection,” n.d., https://www.spp.org/engineering/generator-interconnection/ (accessed January 8, 2026).

[10] OATI, “PNM OASIS,” n.d., https://www.oasis.oati.com/PNM/ (accessed January 8, 2026); OATI, “El Paso Electric OASIS,” n.d., https://www.oasis.oati.com/EPE/ (accessed January 8, 2026).