Oracle touts Project Jupiter benefits during tour as wrangling over power continues
Oracle promoted Project Jupiter’s economic benefits during a media tour in Santa Teresa while the project’s air-quality permitting process faced another delay. Regulators and environmental advocates are scrutinizing emissions from the proposed natural-gas fuel-cell microgrid, while Oracle negotiates backup power arrangements with El Paso Electric that have raised concerns among county commissioners and residents.
Oracle and STACK Infrastructure hosted a tour of Project Jupiter, a hyperscale data center under construction near Santa Teresa, where more than 4,000 workers are employed. Oracle said the project could generate $13 billion in economic impact and proposed providing up to $55 million annually in credits to El Paso Electric customers for as many as three years while negotiating an emergency backup-power agreement with the utility. Doña Ana County commissioners questioned the proposal because existing industrial revenue bond conditions were intended to prevent the project from affecting customer rates.
Project Jupiter’s proposed fuel-cell microgrid remains stalled while the New Mexico Environment Department considers an air-quality permit. A public hearing has been rescheduled for Dec. 7 after repeated delays, and updated emissions modeling reportedly showed pollutant concentrations twice as high as in earlier estimates. Oracle and Yucca Growth Infrastructure said design changes would reduce emissions by about 35%, but New Energy Economy and the Center for Biological Diversity argued the revised proposal still poses serious climate and air-quality risks and requested additional scrutiny. Residents and state lawmakers continue to oppose the project, citing environmental impacts, transparency concerns, utility costs and water-related risks.