Project Jupiter site work continues, despite high court's pause on permits

Construction for Project Jupiter, a large data center campus near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, continues despite a New Mexico Supreme Court order that paused critical water use and air quality permits. The project, being developed by Oracle and STACK to support artificial intelligence for Oracle and OpenAI, is set to be one of the largest data centers in the nation, spanning over 1,000 football fields.

The data center has drawn criticism for its significant water consumption, having pumped over 103 million gallons of fresh water from an emergency well since April before the Supreme Court halt. Additionally, Oracle's commitment to local hiring is under scrutiny, as the company identified only 189 Doña Ana County residents and 404 New Mexico residents out of more than 2,100 construction workers, with records for 1,600 workers unmatched to a ZIP code. State Representative Sarah Silva of Las Cruces criticized Oracle, stating that the company, despite its expertise in data collection, appears to prioritize rapid construction over local hiring.

Workers on the site, many of whom commute from states like Arizona and Texas, expressed concerns about the project's environmental impact, particularly its water usage. Carson Emery, a construction worker relocated from Houston, voiced his opposition, saying, "They’re taking all of our water." Despite the legal pauses, workers noted that construction supervisors provide minimal updates, and work has continued even at the West Microgrid site, which was intended for natural gas turbines but is now theoretically obsolete after developers withdrew an application in favor of fuel cells.