An AI-computing data center could arrive in the Four Corners soon. Whether it’s an economic boon, a strain on resources or a mix of both depends on perspective.
Smaller-scale data centers already exist in the region, including 2210Cortez in Colorado’s southwesternmost city, and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Data Center in Shiprock, New Mexico.
If a larger data center comes to the Four Corners, Farmington is a likely candidate. Natural gas infrastructure from the resource-rich San Juan Basin, combined with regional leaders open to development, makes the city of about 46,000 attractive.
Last year, the Department of Energy estimated data centers used 4.4% of the nation’s electricity in 2023. Streaming Netflix or storing files in the cloud depends on data centers. More sophisticated AI consumes greater energy and requires larger facilities. By 2028, the share of energy used by data centers could climb to 6.7% to 12% of the country’s capacity, the DOE says.
The U.S. government is on board. In July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to speed up building data centers, accelerating the nation’s sprint to advance AI. Major including Meta and Amazon have followed suit, investing billions in new facilities.
As AI expands, opposition to data centers has grown. Nonprofit Data Center Watch tracked 20 developments stalled or blocked nationwide from March to June, largely by grassroots efforts. Organizers commonly worry about strained energy grids and heavy water use.
“We are aware of a number of groups who are sniffing around,” Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett told The Tri-City Record in response to an emailed inquiry about businesses looking to establish data centers in the city.
But being open to business also means keeping electric utility costs manageable, Duckett said.
“We are looking for groups who would utilize our abundant natural gas resources to power their own facilities, behind-the-meter operations, so their power needs will not impact demand on our grid or potentially increase our electric prices.”
“Behind the meter” refers to data centers with on-site energy generation or close to dedicated power sources.
San Juan County has the ninth lowest electricity rate out of all 33 counties in New Mexico, Find Energy estimates. Some reports indicate energy demands from data centers can increase utility prices for consumers.
“The data centers are looking for a lot of the attributes we have,” said Tim Gibbs, CEO of Four Corners Economic Development, during a June interview with Duckett. “They're looking for generation opportunity primarily of natural gas. They're looking for solar opportunities – we have that in spades.”
Natural gas accounts for more than 40% of energy use by data centers nationwide, an April report by the International Energy Association shows.
Jay Paul McWilliams, CEO of Logos Resources, an oil and natural gas company in Farmington, said he’s “constantly getting hit up by folks that are interested in buying natural gas from us for their data centers.”
McWilliams’ company organized a conference at San Juan College in October focused on using the region’s natural gas to feed AI’s energy demands. Duckett was one of the first speakers.
“Whatever we do, we have to do it in an environmentally friendly kind of way,” said Carsten Baumann, an executive at French automation and energy management company Schneider Electric.
Speaking at the conference, Baumann expressed excitement about data centers but noted moratoriums have been proposed in some places over concerns about energy sufficiency and water depletion. Natural gas has limitations as well, he said.
“Burning fossil fuels in the long run – while natural gas is a very viable option right now – might not necessarily be helping us to move 20 years down. We have to look for different alternatives.”
With more broadband coming to Montezuma County and its neighbors, a big data center might be appreciated by some but technically nonviable. Resources might not be available to support it, at least not in Cortez.
Tucked away in an unassuming strip mall in Cortez, 2210 taps into interstate fiber pathways bringing internet providers closer to AI-powering data centers, said Rick Smith, a consultant for the small-scale center.
“We provide an on-ramp and an express lane to bigger data centers,” he said.
When considering AI use and data centers, think about latency, Smith said: How long does it take to ask a question of ChatGPT, have that query sent to wherever the answer is computed, then get back a reply?
“That’s why all the talk nowadays is building these data centers around the country,” Smith said. “Because they’re finding they want to move the compute closer to the consumer.”
“If you have an issue with your smart TV or refrigerator, you just take a picture and AI will tell you how to fix it instantly, or in a minute or two,” said 2210Cortez Co-Founder Nancy Casados.
“But you have to have what – the connectivity. So 2210’s role is very important.”
“It would be ideal if they wanted to put one in the Four Corners, because we’re in that digital desert,” Smith said. “But I’m not sure we have all the resources because of the big water demands.”
Robust broadband infrastructure and, of course, energy supply are needed too, he said.
The Tri-City Record inquired with officials from the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority about their data center in Shiprock. After initial email contact, officials did not respond to a request for more information.
During a Sept. 22 meeting to revise the land use code, Montezuma County Commissioner Jim Candelaria said:
“In the world today with the draw of AI and the data centers and all the other stuff that we are using – I know nobody wants to have the conversation, but it's got to be had and it should be put in the code sooner than later. Or at least something in there. Because it’s coming.”
“It’s coming a lot faster than I think we realize,” said Commissioner Kent Lindsay, also a board member of Empire Electric Association.
An updated land use code for the county, featuring new rules for alternative energy sources like solar, went into effect several weeks after that meeting, on Nov. 18.
That code did not include any regulations on data centers, County Attorney Stephen Tarnowski said in a brief email.
“Of course, the code could always be amended in the future,” he said.
