New Mexico regulators rejected a natural gas pipeline application for Oracle’s Project Jupiter data center for the second time. The State Land Office denied the request from operator Energy Transfer for the Doña Ana County site. Officials cited environmental concerns regarding water usage and emissions as reasons the project does not serve the state trust.
The denial threatens the massive AI campus designed to run on 2.5 gigawatts of Bloom Energy fuel cells. These fuel cells require a consistent natural gas supply to function.
This setback may force Oracle to find alternative power solutions or pipeline routes. Oracle maintains the project remains on schedule despite the regulatory hurdle. Local lawmakers are currently debating a potential moratorium on large-scale data centers amid rising public opposition.