COMMISSION VOTES FOR LARGEST UTILITY TO BILL FACEBOOK IN NEW MEXICO
STATEWIDE (KSMX)- Facebook has more than doubled its New Mexico footprint with the purchase of more than 400 acres (162 hectares) near its new data center in Los Lunas NM. But the company isn’t saying what it plans to do with the property. According to the Associated Press, Facebook is constructing a six-building, $1 billion data center on the 300-acre parcel it purchased in 2016. The company announced the completion of the first building in February and said then that the site employs 150 employees and contractors. Officials, Sarah Cottrell Propst of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and Alicia J. Keyes of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, wrote in the letter that a Facebook-related case being considered by the commission could have a “potential chilling effect on statewide economic development” if the commission did not decide the case in the company’s favor.
However, the commission voted 5-0 last week to require the state’s largest utility to bill Facebook for the $39 million. The utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico, now has the option to file for a rehearing or appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
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