Facebook plant opens with the promise of a lot to ‘like’

The promised returns on New Mexico’s generous incentives that convinced social media giant Facebook to build a data center in Los Lunas instead of Utah are starting to flow in — the center is up and running as of this month.

And that means the first of what will be six buildings is in use by more than 150 employees and contractors. More than 1,000 workers have been on site each day since construction started in October 2016, and the company plans to finish all buildings by 2023 and employ 300 in 22 “data halls” of servers and equipment.

According to Los Lunas’ most recent budget, gross receipts tax revenue jumped more than 50 percent to $7.4 million last fiscal year, primarily because of Facebook construction and related economic growth. And the company has announced commitments to add 396 megawatts of green energy to the state’s electric grid through eight wind and solar projects — power mentioned as a piece of the proposed state Energy Transition Act. And it plans to award its first Community Action grants soon to those who “help to connect the community and increase digital skills.”

For a state striving to diversify its economy beyond government, and oil and gas, that’s all certainly worth friending. And it represents an important down payment on the package local and state officials gave the company — $30 billion in industrial revenue bonds that function as a 30-year property tax break, $10 million in Local Economic Development Act funding and up to $1.6 million in gross receipts tax reimbursement annually.