Neighbor Field Companion Project Bliss
3 GW
by 2029
Federal Land
U.S. Army × Carlyle · Fort Bliss, East El Paso

“Self-contained” is a claim, not a condition.

Your pocket kit for lawful, on-the-record oversight of the proposed Fort Bliss AI data center.
Where
~1,384 acres of Fort Bliss landFar East El Paso · near Loop 375 & Montana Ave, by Camp East Montana & EPE’s Montana station
Scale
~100 MW by late 2027 → 3 GW by 2029More power than all ~460,000 El Paso Electric customers combined
Who
U.S. Army leases the land · Carlyle Group would build & run itUnder a DoD “AI push” · conditional exclusive-negotiation deal only — no signed lease yet
Core message

A press release is not a permit. “Water neutral” is not a water budget. “Self-contained” is not a grid firewall. An exclusive-negotiation deal is not a signed lease.

The four-part test

For every major claim, ask for:

01
The enforceable document
02
The underlying data
03
The named decision-maker
04
The consequence for noncompliance
What this is — and is not
  • A resident’s companion for lawful oversight of the proposed Army/Carlyle data center on Fort Bliss land.
  • Not affiliated with the U.S. Army, Fort Bliss, Carlyle Group, or any agency — and not legal advice.
  • The Army has said it is “not asking if El Pasoans support the project.” So the leverage isn’t applause — it’s the federal environmental review (NEPA), the enhanced-use lease, FOIA, and the state permits for power, water, and air.
  • “Project Bliss” is this watch’s name, not the government’s. The Army and Carlyle have given the project no public code name — it’s simply “the Fort Bliss data center.”
The open decision points
Process The federal review (NEPA)
  • Because the site is federal land, the project must clear the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before construction — normally an Environmental Assessment (EA) or a fuller Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), with a public comment period.
  • The weakest outcome for the public is a quick EA ending in a “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI), or a categorical exclusion that skips review entirely. Ask for a full EIS given the 3 GW power, water, and air footprint.
  • Identify the lead agency and the named NEPA point of contact (Department of the Army / Fort Bliss Garrison / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), the comment deadline, and where the draft document will be posted.
Power The grid & who builds it
  • At full build-out the campus would draw 3 GW — more than El Paso Electric’s entire ~2.9 GW generating capacity and above the utility’s all-time peak demand.
  • Army officials say the power source is still under review. Assistant Secretary Jeff Waksman framed the choice as “whether El Paso Electric is going to be the ones building… or if this is going to be some independent power producer.”
  • The likely source is combined-cycle natural gas turbines. A grid-tied plant runs through PUCT / El Paso Electric rate cases; an islanded “self-contained” plant avoids the grid but still needs air permits. Either way — what legally stops the cost or the pollution from landing on El Paso?
Water The Hueco Bolson
  • The Army points to Fort Bliss wells drawing on the Hueco Bolson aquifer — the same stressed desert aquifer El Paso depends on — with El Paso Water or Fort Bliss Water as backup.
  • The Army’s own screening reportedly rated the site’s water risk “extremely high,” yet the project is marketed as “water neutral” with no method specified.
  • Ask for the maximum daily and annual withdrawal across all phases, where each gallon originates, whether rights can shift during a drought emergency, and the enforceable instrument that makes “water neutral” real.
Air The gas turbines
  • If powered by on-site combined-cycle gas turbines, the campus becomes a major new stationary source of NOx, PM2.5, CO, VOCs, and CO₂ in a region that already struggles with air quality.
  • Stationary sources in Texas are permitted by TCEQ even on a federal enclave. Ask which permit class applies, the maximum authorized annual emissions, and whether all units are evaluated as a single source.
  • Ask for continuous emissions monitoring, public data, and the enforcement consequence if measured emissions exceed the permit.
Money The lease, land & taxes
  • The deal is structured as an enhanced-use lease (EUL) — the military renting underused base land to a private operator. Ask for the lease term, the rent, and what the Army receives in cash or in-kind.
  • Because it sits on federal land, the land itself is exempt from local property tax — so El Paso may host a 3 GW industrial load while collecting little of the property-tax base a private campus would owe. Whether structures are taxable depends on the ownership structure — get it in writing.
  • Ask for the enforceable jobs and wage floor, the public cost per permanent job, and the clawback if commitments are missed.
Security “Power projection” framing
  • Commanding General Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor called data centers “essential parts of power projection” — reframing a commercial AI campus as a military necessity. Ask how much of the 3 GW is defense workload vs. commercial cloud sold by Carlyle.
  • It is one of several on a national DoD rollout — Fort Hood (TX), Fort Bragg (NC), Dugway (UT), plus Air Force sites in CA, GA, AZ, TN. Ask what El Paso’s deal borrows from, or improves on, the others.
  • A national-security framing can be used to narrow public input. Ask what is genuinely classified vs. simply undisclosed, and insist the environmental and ratepayer facts stay public.
Game plan
Before Prep your ask
  • Pick one subject: the NEPA review, power/grid, water, air, the lease & taxes, or the security framing.
  • Write one question per card — start from a documented premise, end with a request for a number, document, legal authority, or deadline.
  • Match the question to the venue. Environmental review → the Army / Corps NEPA process. Rates → PUCT. Emissions → TCEQ. Water → El Paso Water / the Public Service Board. Lease terms → the Army (via FOIA).
  • File written comments during the NEPA comment window — those get the strongest procedural protection and must be answered on the record.
During Work the room
  • Record the exact answer, speaker, time, and any promise of follow-up. Follow all venue & recording rules — Army-hosted meetings may set their own.
  • If an answer is vague, ask: “Will you put that in writing and identify the enforceable document — lease clause, permit condition, or NEPA commitment — that supports it?”
  • Ask for maximum figures — worst-year water, total authorized emissions, full 3 GW load — not promotional averages or the “Phase 1 only” number.
  • No personal accusations. Use: unsupported, unverified, inconsistent, not publicly documented, or contradicted by a named record.
After Lock in the record
  • Circulate questions that were submitted but not publicly answered.
  • Send a federal FOIA request to the Army for the lease, siting, and NEPA records — and Texas Public Information Act requests to TCEQ, the PUCT, and El Paso Water for the state-side records (see Docs tab).
  • Log every promise in the Answer Tracker: question, official, promised action, deadline, source, status.
  • File technical concerns through the formal NEPA, TCEQ, and PUCT processes — a comment card at a listening session is not a substitute for a docketed filing.
Remember
Final reminder

Document the question. Document the answer. Document the promise. Then request the record.

Not legal advice. This is civic-organizing and public-records information about a proposal that is still in early, pre-agreement stages. Preserve original records, quote accurately, follow venue rules, and consult an attorney about NEPA standing, FOIA appeals, PUCT intervention, permit challenges, or litigation deadlines.

Question Bank

Tap ★ to save a card, or ⧉ to copy it for a comment, email, or meeting.

Send it where it counts — match each question to the right venue (the Army/NEPA, PUCT, TCEQ, or El Paso Water).

My Cards

Your starred questions and anything you write yourself. This is your ask queue.

Answer Tracker

Log what officials actually promise. Every vague answer is a future records request.

Docs & Templates

The Project Bliss document archive, plus copy-paste NEPA, federal FOIA, and Texas Public Information Act letters and primary sources.

Document archive
Loading the Project Bliss archive…
Copy-paste templates
NEPA scoping commentDemand a full EIS on the environmental review 

        
      

    

    

      
        Federal FOIA requestTo the Department of the Army / Fort Bliss
        
      
      

        

        
      

    

    

      
        Texas PIA requestFor the state records — TCEQ, PUCT, El Paso Water
        
      
      

        

        
      

    

    

      
        Letter to your officialsCongressional delegation, City Council & the garrison
        
      
      

        

        
      

    


    
Records follow-up map

    

      

        
Public bodyRequest narrowly · via

        
          
Dept. of the Army / Fort BlissFederal FOIA. The enhanced-use lease and term sheet; the Carlyle solicitation, source-selection, and conditional-award records; siting and real-estate studies; the water-risk screening; power-source analyses; and all communications with Carlyle referencing the data center.

          
U.S. Army Corps of EngineersFederal FOIA + NEPA docket. The NEPA scoping notice, draft/final EA or EIS, technical appendices (air, water, traffic, noise), the FONSI or Record of Decision, and all public comments received.

          
TCEQTexas PIA. Every air-permit application/registration for the on-site generation; emissions calculations; single-source aggregation analysis; monitoring & enforcement plans; and public comments received.

          
PUCT / El Paso ElectricTexas PIA + PUCT filings. Any interconnection or service request tied to the Fort Bliss load; new-generation or rate filings; cost-allocation and ratepayer-impact analyses; and staff memos.

          
El Paso Water / Public Service BoardTexas PIA. Will-serve / water-service letters; Hueco Bolson capacity & aquifer studies; any Fort Bliss water agreement; metering; and drought / emergency allocation authority.

          
City of El Paso / CountyTexas PIA. Any incentive, infrastructure, roadway, or utility agreements; property-tax treatment analysis of federal-land structures; and communications with the Army, Carlyle, or the Borderplex Alliance.

          
Carlyle GroupA private firm — outside FOIA and the Texas PIA. Route through the public bodies it corresponded with, and through any SEC disclosures.

        
      

    

    

      Two clocks: Under federal FOIA, an agency generally must respond within 20 business days. Under the Texas Public Information Act, a governmental body must produce records “promptly” and, to withhold anything, generally must ask the Texas Attorney General for a ruling within 10 business days — otherwise the records are presumed public. You do not have to say why you want them.
    


    
Source check

    


    

      Federal project, mixed record. Use FOIA for Army/DoD/Corps records and NEPA to shape the environmental review; use the Texas Public Information Act (Gov’t Code Ch. 552) for TCEQ, PUCT, El Paso Water, and city/county records. This packet is not individualized legal advice.