CEO of Borderplex Alliance Calls Concerned El Pasoans a “virus” For Speaking Up On Data Centers

City council meetings in El Paso are not exactly known for being standing room only. But for weeks now, concerned residents have been packing those meetings, showing up on their own time, to voice their opposition to the Meta data center being built near U.S. Highway 54 and Stan Roberts Sr. Avenue in Northeast El Paso.

The response from those in power? Dismiss them.

Jon Barela, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, the organization that brokered the Meta deal, stood before a room of supporters at the 2026 Global Border Summit at the Hotel Paso del Norte and had this to say about his own city's concerned residents:

"I was in a city council meeting where intimidation, threats, bullying quite frankly was the name of the game... We do not want that virus to spread in our community."

El Paso's search for Truth is a VIRUS, according to CEO of Borderplex Alliance (Jon Barela).
by
u/Tru_Lie in
ElPaso

Let that sink in. El Pasoans who took time out of their day to participate in the democratic process, the very process we are told matters, are being called a virus by the man who helped make this deal happen without meaningful public input.

Barela also called the opposition's concerns "misinformation" and "bad data," and issued what he described as a "call to arms" urging supporters to pressure elected officials to back the project. All of this happened at a private industry summit, not a public forum.

What About Those New El Paso Jobs?

Supporters of the data center keep pointing to jobs. Meta's own vice president of data center development, Gary Demasi, says construction has employed around 1,500 workers, with over 4,000 expected during the build. Once operational, the center will be run by 300 full-time employees.

Here's what the national data actually says about those numbers.

Large data centers rarely create hundreds of ongoing local jobs, especially in smaller towns, and the lasting positions are mostly technical or specialized. Those construction jobs? Projects of this scale will likely need out-of-town laborers who travel to the area and don't stay long term, and once constructed, data centers employ a much smaller and more specialized workforce, typically consisting of imported talent rather than existing workers from the local area.

The permanent jobs picture is even less flattering. A 1.1 million square foot Vantage data center outside Reno estimated just 73 permanent jobs over the next decade despite more than 4,000 temporary construction jobs. A Microsoft data center in Illinois created 20 permanent jobs after receiving more than $38 million in sales tax exemptions. And nationally, when calculating the tax breaks these projects have received, local governments were found to be subsidizing each permanent full-time job to the tune of more than $2 million.

The Energy Meta Clean Energy "Promise"

Demasi says the data center's electricity use will be covered by "100% clean and renewable energy." But El Paso Electric has proposed a $473 million gas-powered plant to power the facility, and natural gas is not a renewable energy source. Who pays for that plant if it gets built? That question has not been answered clearly.

County Commissioner Jackie Butler said it plainly: other counties have told her they "can't afford the electric rates that are being brought on by these data centers." That concern is backed up by data showing communities near data centers have seen electricity prices rise 257% since 2020.

So What Should El Pasoans Do Now?

The City and County of El Paso are developing "practice guides" to understand the impact data centers have had in other communities. City Rep. Chris Canales has publicly said his views on the project have changed since the original agreement, but that it's "too late to stop" the center.

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar disagrees with that level of surrender. She has formally requested that Meta hold its own public listening sessions, writing that residents "deserve more transparency about how the project could affect the community."

There are still community meetings scheduled. Show up.

• Monday, March 30, 5:30–7 p.m. - The Beast Urban Recreation Center, 13501 Jason Crandall Dr.
• Thursday, April 2, 5:30–7 p.m. - Chamizal Community Center, 2119 Cypress Ave.
• Wednesday, April 8, 5:30–7 p.m. - Wayne Thornton Community Center, 3134 Jefferson Ave.

El Paso is not a virus. El Paso is a community that expects to be heard.