New Mexico Supreme Court rejects challenges to Project Jupiter data center
The New Mexico Supreme Court rejected two challenges from environmental groups against the regulatory proceedings for the Project Jupiter data center in Doña Ana County. This decision allows the permitting process, previously paused in August, to resume for the Oracle and OpenAI data center project. Environmental groups had challenged the data center's air quality permit application and its use of an emergency water well.
The New Mexico Supreme Court has unanimously rejected two separate challenges brought by environmental groups against the regulatory proceedings for the Project Jupiter data center in Doña Ana County. The challenges, filed in August by the Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy and the national Center for Biological Diversity, contested the data center's pending air quality permit application with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and its use of an emergency water well for construction.
The Supreme Court's brief orders, issued on Thursday, also unpaused the regulatory proceedings that had been frozen since August. This decision allows the permitting process to resume, though the air quality permit hearing, initially set for Monday, still requires a new hearing officer after the previous one recused himself. Environmental groups expressed disappointment, stating they sought a fair opportunity to obtain evidence and present their case regarding what they perceive as an enormous new source of pollution.
Project Jupiter, identified as a data center project by Oracle and OpenAI, plans to use a natural-gas powered fuel cell system as its on-site energy source. Projections suggest this system could emit as many greenhouse gases annually as New Mexico's largest cities combined, a point of significant concern for the opposing environmental organizations. The NMED is awaiting the appointment of a new hearing officer to continue the process.