NM environment officials will hold public hearing on Project Jupiter air permits, push back decision

New Mexico environment officials will be holding a public hearing on air quality permits for controversial data center Project Jupiter, and pushing back a decision on those permits by several months, Source NM has learned.

Environment Secretary James Kenney approved the public hearing on Tuesday, following a request last week from two Southern New Mexico state lawmakers, who referenced high interest in the project among their constituents. Kenney, similarly, noted that the project’s air quality permits received more than 7,000 comments during a recent public comment period, demonstrating sufficient public interest to hold a meeting. 

The agency originally had until April 22 to make a decision on the permits. However, in letters sent to Project Jupiter developers Acoma LLC on Tuesday, the state said it would push back the final decision on the air permit applications for the twin gas-fired power plants to July 21, due in part to the public hearing.

A statement provided by an Acoma spokesperson following publication said the company welcomed “the opportunity to participate fully in the public hearing process and remain confident the project will meet or exceed applicable requirements.”

Project Jupiter, the statement said, :is a major economic win for the state. We look forward to a productive dialogue about the project’s benefits for New Mexicans: thousands of good-paying jobs, many of them union; job training; and hundreds of millions of dollars for the county to improve water, schools, and local services. These benefits come without increasing residents’ power bills.”

Last year, Doña Ana County officials backed spending $165 billion in bonds to build the data center to train OpenAI and Oracle. In November, permits submitted by Acoma LLC  said the private power plants may emit as many greenhouse gases as New Mexico’s two largest cities combined.

At least one construction project, a proposed 17-mile, $60 million pipeline to supply gas to power the data center, relies on the state’s approval of the air quality permits to move forward.  

Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces), one of the lawmakers who requested a public hearing, told Source NM she hopes the people most impacted by this project will have “a real seat at the table.”

“7,155 New Mexicans spoke and NMED had to listen,” Rubio wrote in a text. “We’re glad NMED is recommending a public hearing and we will be watching closely to make sure it happens here in Doña Ana County, and done so bilingually, before any final decisions are made.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​”

A hearing officer, not the agency, will announce the schedule for the hearing, which will likely be held in Doña Ana County, NMED Director of Communications Drew Goretzka told Source NM in an email.