New hearing officer appointed in Project Jupiter permitting proceeding
Retired federal Judge James O. Browning was appointed to oversee the air-quality permit proceeding for Project Jupiter, a proposed hyperscale data center near Santa Teresa. The proceeding concerns a permit for an on-site natural gas fuel-cell plant, and its schedule was disrupted by a New Mexico Supreme Court stay following an environmental group’s fairness complaint.
New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney appointed retired federal Judge James O. Browning as the hearing officer for Project Jupiter’s air-quality permit proceeding near Santa Teresa. The proposed hyperscale data center, backed by Oracle and Stack, would include an on-site natural gas fuel-cell plant capable of powering the 1,400-acre development.
The appointment followed the prior hearing officer’s recusal and a temporary New Mexico Supreme Court stay prompted by an environmental group’s complaint that the permitting process was unfair. The court subsequently allowed the proceeding to continue, but a new hearing schedule has not been announced. Developers had sought a decision by November on a permit allowing approximately 10 million tons of annual greenhouse-gas emissions, a timeline that now appears unlikely.