New Mexico local moratoria

Every local infrastructure moratorium in the inventory for New Mexico, current through September 23, 2026.

6 instruments — 5 in force, 1 pending, 0 past.

State policy is tracked separately: 3 actions (3 bills) in state_legislation.csv. These are not included in the local count above.

Detailed entries

Colfax County

• Type: County
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: Reported adopted 'late last month' (late August 2026) per CPR.org's September 3, 2026 article; a public hearing on the proposed ordinance was held August 11, 2026 and the county's own public notice states the Board of Commissioners could consider adoption at its August 25, 2026 meeting.
• Normalized date: 2026-08-25 (unverified)
• Duration: One year from adoption (to approximately 2027-08-25).
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: nm-colfax-county-2026
• Legal basis: Ordinance No. 2026-02 (Colfax County), 'An Ordinance for a Data Center Moratorium,' prohibiting the establishment or expansion of any data center in unincorporated areas of the county and putting municipalities within the county on notice that the county opposes data centers in incorporated areas as well; public hearing held August 11, 2026 per the county's official notice, adoption considered at the August 25, 2026 commission meeting.
• What prompted it: Concern over water use during a severe/extreme drought affecting the county, plus concerns about energy use, heat, and noise; came after the City of Raton's since-expired memorandum of understanding with a data-center developer (Atterix LLC) drew controversy.
• Affected projects: None sited in unincorporated Colfax County; the City of Raton separately had a since-expired memorandum of understanding with Atterix LLC to consider a data center at a former K-Mart site, but that is a municipal, not county, matter and is unaffected by this county ordinance.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Colfax County Commissioners unanimously adopted Ordinance No. 2026-02, a one-year moratorium on establishing or expanding data centers in unincorporated areas of the county, at their August 25, 2026 meeting (per the county's own public notice scheduling that consideration and CPR.org's September 3, 2026 report that the ordinance 'passed unanimously late last month'). The moratorium does not bind municipalities within the county (such as the City of Raton), which could still approve a data center; Raton itself considered but postponed its own moratorium proposal around the same time.
• Outcome: Colfax County Commission unanimously adopted a one-year moratorium on new or expanded data centers in unincorporated county territory.

Grant County

• Type: County
• Status: 🟡 Pending
• Date enacted: —
• Normalized date: — (unverified)
• Duration: Proposed one-year moratorium, on the 2026-09-24 commission agenda (not yet voted as of this research pass)
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: nm-grant-county-undated
• Legal basis: Resolution R-26-54, Notice of Intent to Consider an Ordinance Establishing a Temporary One-Year Moratorium Prohibiting Data Centers and Direct Supporting Infrastructure within the Unincorporated Area
• What prompted it: Secretive Site Layer 1 LLC data center/gas-generation proposal near Hachita and Playas, disclosed via an air-quality permit legal notice; community opposition and transparency concerns; modeled on Socorro County's ordinance.
• Affected projects: Site Layer 1, LLC data center/natural-gas generation proposal near Hachita and Playas.
• Detailed status: Pending as of 2026-09-23. Commissioner Nancy Stephens is sponsoring Resolution R-26-54 (Notice of Intent to Consider an Ordinance Establishing a one-year data-center moratorium), scheduled for the Board of Commissioners' regular meeting on 2026-09-24 (the day after this research pass). Outcome not yet known. [VERIFY instrument number; adoption date not confirmed at confidence 0.55 in the 2026-09 refresh]
• Outcome: —

Rio Communities

• Type: City
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-08-26 (City Council, 4-0)
• Normalized date: 2026-08-26 (exact)
• Duration: 365-day moratorium
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center, general
• Moratorium ID: nm-rio-communities-2026
• Legal basis: Council-approved 365-day moratorium on undefined land uses exceeding 20,000 sq ft in commercial, industrial, and manufacturing zones
• What prompted it: CBRE marketing 365+ acres as a premier data center development site; city zoning code has no definition for data centers.
• Affected projects: CBRE-marketed 365+ acre site.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Council approved 4-0 (reported as Monday, 2026-08-24/26) a 365-day moratorium on undefined uses over 20,000 sq ft in commercial/industrial/manufacturing zones, targeting data centers without naming them by definition; also directed staff to draft data-center-specific zoning definitions.
• Outcome: Staff drafting data center zoning definitions.

Santa Fe County

• Type: County
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-06-30, Board of County Commissioners, 5-0 vote
• Normalized date: 2026-06-30 (exact)
• Duration: 18 months, immediate; amended during the meeting from an original 12-month proposal
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: nm-santa-fe-county-2026
• Legal basis: Ordinance 2026-06 (Santa Fe County), an immediate 18-month moratorium on data center development, amended at adoption to lower the coverage threshold from 100 MW to 1 MW
• What prompted it: Development of permanent standards addressing groundwater, electricity and grid reliability, noise, waste heat, environmental justice, monitoring, and public participation
• Affected projects: —
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31; the county stated no data center proposal was then pending in Santa Fe County
• Outcome: —

Sierra County

• Type: County
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: Reportedly 2026-07-21, Board of County Commissioners, unanimous vote amending agenda item Resolution 2026-51 during the meeting
• Normalized date: 2026-07-21 (exact)
• Duration: 18 months from adoption (2026-07-21), to approximately 2028-01-21, confirmed by Resolution No. 2026-51 as named in KRQE and gpkmedia.com/Sierra County Sentinel reporting and listed on the Sierra County Clerk's resolutions index.
• Current end date: 2028-01-21
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: nm-sierra-county-2026
• Legal basis: Resolution No. 2026-51 (Sierra County Board of County Commissioners), adopted unanimously July 21, 2026 by amending a draft resolution that originally only opposed large-scale data center development into an operative 18-month moratorium; named as 'Resolution 2026-51' by KRQE, the Sierra County Sentinel (gpkmedia.com), and a KRQE Facebook post, and listed on the Sierra County Clerk's online resolutions index dated 07/21/2026.
• What prompted it: Concern about a possible data center at Spaceport America
• Affected projects: —
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Sierra County Commissioners unanimously amended and adopted Resolution No. 2026-51 at their July 21, 2026 meeting, imposing an 18-month moratorium on new data centers in the county (through approximately 2028-01-21). As of September 3, 2026, New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard publicly stated the moratorium also applies to the Spaceport America property (on state trust land) and that she would not approve a proposed Aetherion/Green Data sublease there while it remains in force, and Sierra County Commissioner Sandy Jones told the Albuquerque Journal (reporting published in early September 2026) he would not support efforts to amend or narrow the moratorium despite a developer's lobbying. No rescission, amendment, or replacement was found in sources reviewed through 2026-09-23.
• Outcome: —

Socorro County

• Type: County
• Status: 🟢 Active
• Date enacted: 2026-06-09, unanimous vote of the Socorro County Board of Commissioners.
• Normalized date: 2026-06-09 (exact)
• Duration: One year from adoption (to approximately 2027-06-09).
• Current end date: —
• Sectors: data center
• Moratorium ID: nm-socorro-county-2026
• Legal basis: Socorro County Board of Commissioners moratorium action (instrument number/ordinance-vs-resolution designation not located; no primary county document was retrievable, as the county's own resolution archive and meeting-packet portal are behind an auth-gated Google Drive/Sites link).
• What prompted it: Public opposition to a proposed roughly 10,000-acre solar-plus-data-center facility ("Green Data Center" project) and concerns over water rights/use, energy infrastructure, and public safety; commission appointed a 15-member Blue Ribbon Committee (named 2026-07-29 from 35 applicants) to study these issues and deliver non-binding recommendations at least two months before the moratorium expires.
• Affected projects: Proposed 'Green Data Center' project (~10,000-acre solar and data-center facility) that drew public opposition ahead of the vote.
• Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31 (adopted 2026-06-09, one-year term). Blue Ribbon Committee named 2026-07-29 and is actively working; committee must report at least two months before the moratorium's expiration.
• Outcome: County commission unanimously adopted a one-year moratorium on data centers and their direct supporting infrastructure; a fact-finding Blue Ribbon Committee was subsequently appointed to advise the board before expiration.

Source: moratorium_inventory.csv · Methodology · Codebook.

← Back to state index · Back to repository