Officials weighed in on Project Jupiter — and so did impersonators
A public comment period on an air quality permit for Project Jupiter's microgrid facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, recently closed, drawing significant attention from elected officials for and against the data center. The permit, initially for natural gas turbines, was updated to reflect fuel cell technology from Bloom Energy. The process was marred by controversy as some officials and residents reported supportive comments were falsely submitted under their names, prompting an investigation from Oracle and an order for a public hearing by the Environment Secretary.
The New Mexico Environment Secretary has ordered a public hearing on an air quality permit application for Project Jupiter, an AI-training data center under construction in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The permit, submitted by Yucca Growth Infrastructure, relates to a microgrid power generation facility intended to power the Oracle-backed data center, which will support OpenAI's AI models.
Controversy arose during the public comment period, which closed recently, as several local and state elected officials weighed in both for and against the project. Notably, State Sen. Bill Soules and State Rep. Angelica Rubio, both Democrats from Las Cruces, criticized the project's environmental impact, despite developers switching from natural gas turbines to Bloom Energy fuel cell technology. They and others cited concerns over high estimated greenhouse gas emissions, the unprecedented scale of the fuel cell deployment, and the project's perceived lack of transparency regarding jobs, water, and pollution. Conversely, Doña Ana County Chairman Manny Sanchez and Las Cruces Mayor Eric Enriquez, along with several Republican state senators, supported the project, emphasizing its economic benefits and job creation potential.
Further complicating the process were widespread complaints of impersonation. Several elected officials, including State Rep. Cristina Parajón of Albuquerque and City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, reported that comments supporting Project Jupiter were submitted under their names without their consent. Oracle, the project developer, denied its canvassers were involved in falsely attributed endorsements, stating it would not condone such actions and was investigating. However, the company suggested some instances might be due to individuals sharing similar names. A group of Democratic state representatives, including Rubio and State Reps. Micaela Lara Cadena of Mesilla and Eleanor Chávez of Albuquerque, have proposed a statewide moratorium on large-scale data center development in New Mexico.