NEWS
Progressive group seeks Environment Department special audit
Complaint cites NMED work with business founded by former Cabinet official
Published
Modified
LAS CRUCES 鈥� Business contracts involving the New Mexico Environment Department and business founded by a former state Cabinet secretary are at the bottom of a progressive political organization鈥檚 request for a special audit.
The complaint, submitted to the Office of the State Auditor by ProgressNow NM, alleges potential violations of the state procurement code as well as the Governmental Conduct Act on the part of NMED leadership in its dealings with Apaluma, Inc., a company founded by former state Economic Development Secretary Alicia Keyes.
Keyes served as secretary from 2019 to 2023, the first woman to hold the post.
In a response to the Journal, the department said Apaluma 鈥� registered as a Delaware corporation by Keyes in 2025, according to state records 鈥� was a subcontractor under a proper procurement pertaining to digitizing NMED records under an initiative named Project Velocity. The initiative鈥檚 stated aim is to make access to public records easier while cutting costs of document retention and requests for records.
ProgressNow鈥檚 complaint alleges that in 2025, Environment Secretary James Kenney instructed department staff to work with Apaluma, a provider of digitization services, . The organization alleged nearly half a million dollars was initially added to an existing contract with Albuquerque-based Speridian Technologies for Apaluma鈥檚 services.
A subsequent contract for $977,354 was executed with Speridian that included use of an artificial intelligence product developed by Apaluma and with Keyes named among 鈥渒ey staff and qualified personnel,鈥� the complaint states.
ProgressNow asked the OSA to examine whether Kenney directed agency staff to engage Apaluma outside of a competitive bidding process and whether their professional relationship, having served together under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, presented a conflict of interest.
ProgressNow also requested an examination of Keyes鈥� private sector work with state agencies, as well as lobbyists for Apaluma who represent other clients with interests in matters before the Environment Department.
鈥淎longside work as a state contractor, Keyes has been connected to BorderPlex Digital Assets LLC (Project Jupiter), which has a permit application pending before NMED鈥檚 Air Quality Bureau,鈥� Progress Now鈥檚 complaint states. 鈥淚t is not clear to the public what work, if any, Keyes completed for BorderPlex Digital Assets.鈥�
Project Jupiter is the hyperscale data center under construction in Santa Teresa for use by Oracle and OpenAI. The project is currently seeking an air quality permit from the NMED for its microgrid power generation facility in a process set for a public hearing in October.
Austin-based BorderPlex Digital Assets and its chair, Lanham Napier, were the original face of Project Jupiter. The project was initially presented as a 鈥渄igital infrastructure campus鈥� in a February 2025 announcement alongside the governor, and revealed as a massive AI-training data center during a Do帽a Ana County Commission meeting six months later.
In 2025, when BorderPlex Digital Assets applied for industrial revenue bonds and other public support for Project Jupiter, Keyes was listed among the company鈥檚 personnel as a government relations officer on the company鈥檚 website, but the page of officers was subsequently deleted. BorderPlex Digital did not respond to a query from the Journal.
ProgressNow also requested an inquiry into whether NMED officials appeared in promotional videos for an AI product developed by Apaluma.
The Office of the State Auditor told the Journal, 鈥淲e cannot comment on investigations.鈥�
"When the lines blur between people making money in the private sector and those tasked with evaluating the impacts of major economic development projects on our land, air, water, data, and other resources, every New Mexican pays the costs," Joe Cardillo, ProgressNow鈥檚 deputy director, said in a news release. 鈥淭he public deserves a serious investigation into these concerns, and if there are rules that need to be updated or added to maintain integrity and trust, we welcome those changes.鈥�
NMED spokesperson Drew Goretzka responded to the procurement claim, telling the Journal the department 鈥渃ontracted with Speridian, a technology company, to digitize records that are currently distributed across multiple field offices. Speridian subcontracted Apaluma to provide an internal user interface for those digitized records following a lengthy vetting process.鈥�
Goretzka said Speridian鈥檚 work was procured under a statewide price agreement through the state General Services Department. Statewide price agreements are competitive contracts from which public agencies may purchase services, without undergoing an individual bidding process. Speridian appears on a list of vendors of information technology services
鈥淭here is no connection between the NMED鈥檚 effort to digitize regulatory documents 鈥� a project that increases public transparency and access to state records while saving taxpayers thousands of dollars in document storage costs 鈥� and the matters raised in ProgressNow New Mexico鈥檚 complaint,鈥� Goretzka said.
The Journal reached out to Keyes for comment, but did not receive a response.
Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.
