Gigawatt Ledger · one-page briefing
Campus profile Operating
Los Lunas
Meta Platforms · Los Lunas, New Mexico
The resource footprint
Modelled averageIn one day, this campus consumes about
2.2450-metre swimming pools
Filled with the volume of water consumed by the campus and its electricity supply.
The actual estimate1,479,162 US gallons consumed
Power-plant water may come from a different watershed. This is a volume comparison, not a claim that households lose this water.
At current operating capacity · Annual model spread evenly over time, not a live meter. Site estimates may differ by roughly ±40%.
Comparison sizes & sources
One pool = 50 × 25 × 2 metres = 2.5 million litres (about 660,430 US gallons). Pool depths vary; this is a defined comparison size.
One home-year = 10,791 kWh, the EIA’s 2022 average US residential electricity purchases. This excludes electricity generated at home and is a fixed US benchmark for all sites.
One car-year = 4.6 tonnes CO₂, the EPA’s typical passenger vehicle tailpipe estimate. The campus model is in CO₂e; the comparison expresses approximate climate scale, not equal mixtures of pollutants.
Monthly values are annual totals ÷ 12; daily values are annual totals ÷ 365. Actual demand varies. Comparisons cover the whole campus, including non-AI uses.
Water: see the numbers and sources
This is water used up, mainly through evaporation. Power-generation water may be used in a different watershed.
- Pressure on local water
- Extremely High — a regional measure of demand compared with available water
- Where the water comes from
- Reclaimed / recycled water
- Cooling
- Outside-air economization; treated effluent for peak evaporative
- Basis
- Fitted to a published figure of 120 million gallons a year
- Claimed vs observed
- Meta 2024 Environmental Data Index: 252 megalitres withdrawn (~66.6 million gallons). The model is still fitted to an earlier 120 million gallon figure; Meta reports withdrawal, not consumption.
Air: see the numbers and sources
The totals include nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and fine particles. They cover both this site and the power plants supplying it.
- Health range
- $6.99–20.0 million a year. Lower bound is EASIUR national mid-range; upper is EPA benefit-per-ton at a ~$12M VSL.
- Statistical deaths
- 1.67 a year at that VSL — a national-average conversion from tons, not a local concentration study.
- Equals
- 248,346 cars of NOx
- Where it burns
- WECC Southwest — Ariz. / N.M.
- Generation mix
- Gas 46 · Nuclear 22 · Solar 14 · Coal 12
- Diesel backup
- Diesel backup is not yet counted for this campus, so on-site air figures are a floor.
- CO₂e
- 493 kt/yr — climate, not air quality
The project, approvals and community concerns
- Who asked for it
- Meta — self-build
- Who approved it
- Village of Los Lunas industrial revenue bonds; PNM supply plus Meta-contracted solar; a negotiated cap on potable water
- What it serves
- Meta storage and app serving
- IT capacity
- 200 MW current capacity / 500 MW full-build scenario
Meta funded a reclaimed-water pipeline so the campus runs mostly on treated effluent rather than Rio Grande basin supply — a mitigation now written into several other New Mexico agreements.
Keep this guide handy
34.8010°, -106.7500°
Quote or share these estimates
Gigawatt Ledger (2026). Los Lunas: water and air. https://gigawatt-ledger.pages.dev/site/loslunas/. Modelled from disclosed capacity; site-level error ±40%.
Include the estimate’s date, whether it describes current or proposed capacity, and its uncertainty. Get an embeddable card.
Gigawatt Ledger · September 2026. Water and air figures are estimated from public records and disclosed capacity. How we calculate them · Use this in your community.