State, developers ask to delay public hearing on Project Jupiter air quality permit
New Mexico’s Environment Department and Yucca Growth Infrastructure asked to postpone a December public hearing on Project Jupiter’s air quality permit so officials can review major revisions to the data center’s Bloom Energy fuel cell plant. The delay could move the proceeding into the next administration, while environmental groups seek dismissal of the permit application and continue challenging the project’s emissions and resource impacts.
The New Mexico Environment Department and Yucca Growth Infrastructure, the developer of the Project Jupiter microgrid, asked to vacate a Dec. 7 public hearing in Sunland Park on the hyperscale data center’s air quality permit. The request follows significant revisions to the proposed Bloom Energy fuel cell power plant, and the department said it cannot yet estimate how long its technical review will take. Project buildings in Santa Teresa have reportedly been constructed but remain without power.
The delay is expected to push the permitting process into the administration of Gov.-elect Deb Haaland, who has said she plans to pause large data center development while lawmakers develop new safeguards. Environmental advocates, including New Energy Economy and the Center for Biological Diversity, oppose the project and have raised concerns about incomplete application materials, emissions modeling, fuel-cell performance and water and pollution impacts. Doña Ana County commissioners also agreed to notify the developers of an alleged breach of their county agreement.