El Paso is set to weigh a new proposal for the scale-up of artificial-intelligence infrastructure, as the U.S. Army considers building a data center complex on Fort Bliss in far east El Paso. According to Army officials, the facility is designed to expand quickly—starting with an initial compute footprint of about 100 megawatts next year and reaching an electricity demand of about 3 gigawatts by 2029—at a time when the region is already drawing major private investment in large data centers.
In comments to reporters during a meeting April 22, David Fitzgerald, the Army’s deputy undersecretary, said the Army is targeting “an initial operating capacity of about 100 megawatts on the compute side” by next year. Fitzgerald also laid out the longer-term target for the complex’s electricity needs, saying that by 2029 the Fort Bliss project on military land would require 3 gigawatts of electricity.
The proposed scale would place the project among the largest data-center builds in the Borderland region, AP reported. The Army’s proposal would join other major facilities already planned or under development in the El Paso area, including Meta’s $10 billion data center in Northeast El Paso and the $165 billion Project Jupiter campus that Oracle and OpenAI are building in nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
The Army’s plan is structured around a public-private arrangement. Carlyle Group would pay to build and operate the Fort Bliss data center, AP reported, as part of what the Army described as a national rollout to expand artificial intelligence capabilities for the Department of Defense. Fitzgerald said the Army is looking to find “where are the common interests, common ground that we can solve for?” as it coordinates with city leaders, and he said the effort is “a strategic priority, not just for the Army, but for the entire Department of War.”
Army officials also said the complex would undergo environmental review before construction begins. Jeff Waksman, an assistant secretary of the Army and a former member of President Donald Trump’s first administration, told reporters that combined-cycle natural gas turbines are the “most likely” source of electricity generation for the facility. Waksman said the Army does not yet know whether El Paso Electric would supply power through the utility’s own generation and grid connections, or whether the project would instead use an independent power source for the data center.
In parallel, officials said the project’s water plan remains unsettled. AP reported that it is unclear whether the data center would take water service through El Paso Water. El Paso Water said Fort Bliss Water provides water service for the installation, and that El Paso Water could provide “backup” service, but the utility added in a statement that “EPWater was just recently brought into the discussion, and we only have preliminary information,” and that “The construction and water use would be entirely on federal property.” El Paso Electric similarly said it was uncertain whether the data center would connect to the utility’s grid and that it would determine those matters in the future, while noting the Army had not made a formal request for service.
Even as Army officials outlined what they view as potential approaches, AP reported that the project raises questions about emissions and how the region’s water would be protected. The Army’s solicitation describes El Paso’s water risk as “extremely high” and notes that most of Fort Bliss’ water supply comes from wells within the installation. Fitzgerald said the Army is aware of public concerns that the data center could unsustainably use groundwater for cooling, and he said the facility would be “water neutral.” The company’s ability to achieve that goal—and how it would replace the water it consumes—remains unclear, AP reported, including whether facilities such as the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant, co-owned by El Paso Water and the U.S. Army, could play a role.
Power and emissions concerns also loom given the likely electricity source. AP reported that meeting the projected 3 gigawatts of demand with natural gas-fired generation would likely produce greenhouse gases and other pollutants in the El Paso area. The Army said it is not sure whether it would rely on El Paso Electric to build new generation or whether the project would use a self-contained power system. Waksman said, “We have to decide whether El Paso Electric is going to be the ones building whatever is coming, or if this is going to be some independent power producer.”
The Army’s timelines add urgency to resolving those questions. AP reported that the Army has set a short schedule to start operating by late 2027, which Fitzgerald said means construction would need to begin “in the not-so-distant future.” Fitzgerald said, “The ideal endstate is that we would be at least (operational) by the end of ’27, which is moving pretty quick,” adding that this would require work to start soon.
Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commanding general of the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, described data centers as “essential parts of power projection” while saying the Army must ensure the servers are protected. Taylor said, “But we have to protect those servers. And that’s why there’s great utility in building that infrastructure on military installations.” AP reported that the facility would be located on a plot near the intersection of Loop 375 and Montana Avenue, east of the Camp East Montana immigrant detention facility and near El Paso Electric’s Montana power station.
Carlyle Group did not provide additional details after community questions, AP reported. The Army said it does not yet have a definitive agreement with Carlyle—conditionally selected to enter exclusive negotiations—so few specifics are finalized. Still, AP reported that the Army said the project would not impact El Pasoans’ water or electric bills, and that the developer would have to meet environmental and regulatory requirements and include plans for utilities and infrastructure access, according to a request for proposals issued in December 2025.
For El Paso residents, the Fort Bliss proposal lands in an already crowded landscape of data-center growth and energy strain. While the Army says it will coordinate with city and utility stakeholders, questions raised by El Paso Water and El Paso Electric—about grid connections, backup supply, and how sustainability targets would be met—suggest that the most consequential design decisions remain to come.