By Roger Rael | The Raton Range
RATON, N.M.––The argument over a proposed data center in Raton is no longer only about whether an empty Kmart should remain dark. It is about whether a small city should open the door to a potentially large industrial power user before residents know how much electricity, water, infrastructure and public protection the finished project would require.
The Raton City Commission voted 3-1 on Feb. 10 to approve a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Colorado-based Atterix LLC. Commissioner Sally Hoger cast the lone opposing vote. The agreement gives Atterix six months to study whether Raton could support what the company calls an advanced digital infrastructure hub.
Public descriptions outline three possible phases. The first would convert the former Kmart building on South Second Street into a data center using as much as 5 megawatts of electricity at full capacity. KOB-TV reported that amount could power at least 3,000 homes. Later phases could involve the former municipal power plant and land near Raton Municipal Airport. Altogether, the proposed buildout could reach 50 megawatts, 10 times the first phase.
Nothing in the MOU authorizes construction. The city’s public FAQ says Atterix must pay for the feasibility work and that no city spending, tax incentive, utility commitment, or permanent development has been approved. Any future proposal would require further study, negotiation, public review and another commission vote.
The agreement is still more than a casual conversation. It created a formal six-month period during which the city agreed not to solicit competing digital-infrastructure proposals. Atterix is expected to conduct site assessments, preliminary engineering, cost estimates, development timelines and power-supply discussions before returning to the city.
Atterix was newly formed when it approached Raton. Source New Mexico reported that Colorado attorney Matthew Bruff filed paperwork incorporating the company in December 2025, about two months before the commission vote. Bruff told city leaders Raton offered geographic advantages, including the possibility of using cool mountain air instead of water to cool servers.
No completed engineering report has been released showing the cooling design, peak electrical demand, annual water consumption, permanent job count, utility upgrades, tax revenue or emergency-response requirements.
That information gap has fueled Protect Our Resources, a local organization formed to oppose or slow the project. KOB reported in June that the group had more than 100 members. Source New Mexico reported the online petition had nearly 400 signatures by June 10.
Residents have raised concerns about constant equipment noise, low-frequency hum, industrial lighting, backup generators, air emissions, water demand, electricity rates, property values and the number of permanent jobs. Communities across New Mexico and the country are considering moratoriums and stronger regulations as data centers become larger and more energy intensive.
City Manager Neil Segotta told KOB that officials do not expect the Raton project to create many new jobs. He nevertheless described it as a possible economic opportunity for a town that has lost population and major employers.
That distinction matters. Construction could temporarily bring contractors and spending, but the public has not been shown how many jobs would remain after the servers are installed. No wage schedule, local-hiring requirement, training agreement, or estimate of indirect employment has been publicly attached to the proposal.
The project’s potential tax value also remains unclear. A data center could increase the value of idle property and generate utility sales, but the net benefit depends on ownership, taxable equipment, depreciation, incentives, utility rates and who pays for substations, transmission equipment, water lines, roads and fire protection. A large investment figure is not the same thing as money deposited into the city treasury.
Raton commissioners considered a six-month moratorium on new data-center business licenses and zoning approvals June 9. They postponed the vote while seeking legal advice about whether a moratorium could conflict with the existing Atterix agreement. Commissioner Hoger said the proposed pause was intended to give Raton time to establish regulations and safeguards, not necessarily to permanently exclude data centers.
Elsewhere in New Mexico, local governments are moving before projects are built. Bernalillo County adopted expectations requiring certain data-center developers to cover their electricity and water demands instead of shifting costs to ordinary ratepayers. Its policy also calls for water offsets, workforce development and wage protections when developers seek county economic incentives.
Santa Fe County approved an 18-month moratorium covering projects of at least 1 megawatt while officials develop regulations. New Mexico lawmakers have also announced plans to propose a statewide moratorium during the 2027 legislative session.
The power question is not theoretical. The U.S. Department of Energy reported that data centers consumed about 4.4% of the nation’s electricity in 2023 and could consume between 6.7% and 12% by 2028.
Federal regulators acted in June to require cost-recovery agreements intended to make large power users pay their fair share of grid improvements, even if a planned facility is delayed or never opens. The policy is designed to prevent residential customers from being left with infrastructure costs created for a private development.
Raton needs comparable protection in writing. Residents should not be left paying higher rates for equipment built around a private customer, especially if that customer later reduces its plans, sells the project or walks away.
Water requires equal scrutiny. Atterix representatives have discussed using Raton’s climate to reduce water use, but “air cooled,” “closed loop” and “low water” are not interchangeable promises. Some cooling systems use little water during normal operation but may need it during extreme heat. Others lose water through evaporation or require periodic flushing, treatment and disposal.
At the June 23 commission meeting, Raton introduced an ordinance changing municipal water and sewer rates. Mayor Pro Tem Mark Honeyfield said Water Works was meeting the community’s needs but needed additional revenue to handle expenses. The proposed rate change was not attributed to Atterix, but it demonstrates why any new industrial customer must pay the full cost of the capacity and infrastructure it requires.
The debate became more personal after KRTN published a July 6 letter from Joey Aldaz, a 1979 Raton High School graduate who now lives in Colorado Springs. Aldaz, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and business leader, told Raton to “wake up,” defended Segotta’s position and accused a “vocal minority” of trying to stop opportunity.
Aldaz pointed to the closure of La Mesa Park, the coal mines, and the municipal power plant, along with Raton’s population decline. His argument reflects a real frustration. Raton needs investment, employment, and productive uses for abandoned properties.
His letter also questioned the standing of newer residents leading the opposition. However, newer residents possess the same legal right as longtime families to petition their government, circulate petitions, attend meetings, and question a development that could affect their homes and utility bills.
Some community members have alleged that Aldaz and Segotta are relatives. A public obituary confirms that Aldaz’s mother was Barbara Jean “Bobbi” Segotta Aldaz, daughter of Steve and Elizabeth Segotta. That establishes Aldaz’s connection to the Segotta family through his mother. No public record reviewed for this article established the precise relationship, if any, between Aldaz and City Manager Neil Segotta.
That distinction matters. Aldaz’s documented maternal connection to the Segotta family does not prove wrongdoing, coordination or a conflict of interest. It does make openness important when a public letter strongly defends the city manager’s position and criticizes residents questioning a project the manager has described as an economic opportunity.
The public deserves answers based on documents rather than personalities. Before approving construction, incentives or utility service, the city should release the complete feasibility study and require enforceable limits covering peak and annual water use, cooling technology, wastewater discharge, electricity demand, ratepayer protection, noise, lighting, generators, emissions, fire protection, local hiring, permanent jobs, tax revenue, incentives, infrastructure ownership, decommissioning and financial guarantees.
Raton’s choice is not simply growth or decline. It is whether the city can attract development without gambling public resources or surrendering the qualities that make people want to live here.
Opening our eyes means examining both sides of the ledger: the lights that could come back on and the bill that may arrive afterward.
SIDEBAR
COULD URANIUM-MINE WATER COOL A DATA CENTER?
The idea is technically possible, but it is not as simple as pumping contaminated water into server-cooling pipes.
The Environmental Protection Agency says properly treated wastewater can be used for industrial purposes, including cooling data centers. EPA guidance published in January also identifies the potential reuse of treated groundwater when contaminated properties are redeveloped for data-center use.
The Grants Mining District presents a much more complicated case. EPA says 85 legacy uranium mines and four legacy mill sites may have contributed to groundwater degradation in the San Mateo Creek Basin. Groundwater in one study area has contained uranium, selenium, metals, and radionuclides above federal drinking-water standards.
Any mine-affected water used for cooling would require extensive testing and treatment. The system would also need environmental permits, continuous monitoring, and a safe method for disposing of concentrated contaminants left after treatment.
Distance is another obstacle. Grants and Raton are hundreds of miles apart, making a pipeline or continuous trucking operation financially doubtful unless it were part of a much larger regional cleanup project.
A more realistic requirement would be for Atterix to compare reclaimed municipal wastewater, dry cooling, closed-loop cooling, and outside-air cooling. The company should publicly disclose each option’s peak water demand, electricity requirement, wastewater production, and cost.
The useful question is not whether contaminated water can simply be shipped to Raton. It is whether drinking water should automatically become the first industrial option when safer recycled-water alternatives could be studied.
Compressed print source line: City of Raton Atterix FAQ and commission records; KOB 4; KRTN; Source New Mexico/News From the States; KOAT 7; Bernalillo County; Santa Fe County; U.S. Department of Energy; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Environmental Protection Agency; Denton-Wood Funeral Home public obituary records
