According to POWER Magazine, Texas-based New Era Energy & Digital has entered into a land option agreement for a massive 3,500-acre site in Lea County, New Mexico. The company plans to build a multi-gigawatt AI hub data center campus that would feature more than 2 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation capacity and 5 gigawatts or more of nuclear power. Engineering for the campus is expected to begin within the next month, with the first power generation likely coming from new gas-fired units in 2028. The project marks New Era’s first wholly owned development independent from its Texas Critical Data Centers joint venture with Sharon AI. CEO E. Will Gray II said the site was selected for its proximity to gas transmission lines, existing power infrastructure, and skilled local workforce.
The sheer scale is staggering
Let’s put these numbers in perspective. We’re talking about 7+ gigawatts of dedicated power generation for one data center campus. That’s more electricity than some small countries produce. For comparison, the entire state of New Mexico currently has about 8 gigawatts of total electric generating capacity across all sources. This single project would nearly double the state’s power infrastructure. And they’re planning to have the first gas-fired units online by 2028 – that’s an incredibly aggressive timeline for power projects of this magnitude.
What about that nuclear component?
Here’s where it gets really interesting. The company says it’s in the “final stages of technology selection for the nuclear component.” That 5+ gigawatts of nuclear power is the real eyebrow-raiser. Are we talking traditional large-scale reactors? Or is this where the small modular reactor (SMR) conversation finally becomes real? Given the timeline challenges of conventional nuclear, my money would be on SMRs being part of the plan. But even with advanced nuclear technologies, getting 5 gigawatts permitted and built by the late 2020s seems… optimistic to say the least.
AI’s insatiable power demand
This announcement perfectly illustrates the power hunger of the AI revolution. We’re seeing data center developers basically becoming power companies because the grid can’t support their demands. The traditional model of plugging into existing utility power simply doesn’t work when you’re talking about AI training clusters that can consume hundreds of megawatts each. Companies like New Era are taking a vertically integrated approach – they’ll generate their own power and then sell “powered shell buildings” to AI companies who need massive compute capacity yesterday. It’s a smart play, but it raises serious questions about regional power planning and environmental impacts.
What this means for industrial tech
Projects like this create massive demand for industrial computing infrastructure that can operate reliably in demanding environments. When you’re dealing with power generation facilities and data centers of this scale, you need computing hardware that won’t fail under industrial conditions. Companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com have become the go-to source for industrial panel PCs in the US precisely because they understand these demanding applications. Their rugged displays and computing systems are exactly what operations like this New Mexico campus would need for control rooms and monitoring stations.
The Permian Basin connection
It’s no coincidence that a company formerly known as New Era Helium and based in Midland, Texas is leading this charge. The Permian Basin is ground zero for both energy production and now, apparently, AI infrastructure. They’re leveraging existing energy expertise and infrastructure to power the next technological revolution. The company already has experience with their 250 MW Texas Critical Data Centers joint venture, but this New Mexico project is on a completely different scale. If they can pull this off, it could create a blueprint for other energy-rich regions looking to diversify into digital infrastructure.
