Two New AI-Driven Pipelines Could Cross Land in New Mexico and Arizona

The surge in artificial-intelligence data centers is reshaping the Southwest’s energy map, and two Transwestern Pipeline projects (a subsidiary of Energy Transfer) show what that can mean for landowners. The first, the Green Chile Project, is a 17.77-mile, 24-inch lateral pipeline planned for Doña Ana County, New Mexico, now under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and designed to deliver up to 400,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day to power a large-scale AI data center; the second, the Desert Southwest Expansion, is far larger — a 48-inch line stretching more than 500 miles from the Permian Basin in Winkler County, Texas, through southern New Mexico and into Pinal County, Arizona, at a cost of roughly $5.6 billion and targeted for completion in late 2029. If your property sits along either corridor, the practical reality is that a pipeline company may ask to survey your land and later seek a permanent easement across it, and an easement is not a sale but a lasting right that runs with your land — it can dictate what you may build, plant, or do within the right-of-way for decades. The company’s first offer is based on its own appraisal, and it is not the final word: you have the right to understand exactly what is being taken, to ask questions about the route and the width of the easement, and to negotiate for fair compensation, including for damage to the rest of your property and not just the strip the pipeline occupies. The most important thing to know is that the early letters — a request to survey, or an initial easement offer — are the beginning of a negotiation, not the end of one, and signing a survey-access form or accepting a first offer before you understand your rights can cost you significant leverage and money. If you have received a letter about either of these projects, or a land agent has contacted you, it is worth speaking with an attorney who represents landowners in right-of-way and eminent-domain matters before you sign anything, because a short conversation early can make a substantial difference in what you ultimately receive.