New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard denied a proposal to build part of a natural gas pipeline to power OpenAI and Oracle’s Project Jupiter data center on state land.
It’s the second time regulators have denied the proposal.
New Mexico regulators have rejected, for a second time, applications for a natural gas pipeline across state lands that would supply power systems at a planned Oracle Corp. data center project. https://t.co/281mCeHo0p
— Bloomberg (@business) July 16, 2026
Source New Mexico explains further:
While Project Jupiter’s developers have backed off their initial proposal to power the OpenAI and Oracle data center with two natural gas plants, documents included with their latest air quality permit application show that the fuel cells they plan to use rely on “a robust natural gas pipeline system.”
New Mexico Environment Department officials plan to hold a public hearing on the air quality permit application associated with the proposed fuel cells, but have not yet scheduled it.
ADVERTISEMENTGarcia Richard, a Democrat in the running to replace Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver as the party’s lieutenant governor nominee for the Nov. 3 election, initially denied the request to build a portion of the pipeline, named the “Green Chile Project” in federal regulatory filings, in March. The Dallas-based company Energy Transfer asked her to reconsider and in a Tuesday letter, she informed the company she was again denying their request.
The project will “undoubtedly” benefit Project Jupiter’s investors, developers and tenants but does not appear to provide significant benefits for state lands, Garcia Richard wrote, adding that the proposed fuel cells would still produce high amounts of air pollution.
“The burden that the project will impose on New Mexico’s water and other natural resources, and on the surrounding community, is extreme,” Garcia Richard wrote, according to the outlet.
“At a time when New Mexico needs to stop the out-of-control acceleration of climate change, literally doubling down on dangerous emissions is irresponsible and incompatible with NMSLO’s mission,” she added.
“Massive AI data centers like Project Jupiter can rapidly deplete critical natural resources like water and threaten ecosystems by generating shocking levels of emissions to power their operations,” Garcia Richard said in a statement.
“I am once again rejecting Energy Transfer’s request because the proposed natural gas pipeline appears to offer very little benefit to the State Land Office’s beneficiary institutions, the local community or New Mexico as a whole. It’s my duty to protect state trust lands and New Mexicans from proposals that appear to offer more obvious risks than benefits,” she added.
“Water is life — and Stephanie Garcia Richard is protecting it. As Land Commissioner, she rejected a pipeline proposal that would fuel a massive AI data center while draining New Mexico’s most precious resource,” her office wrote on social media.
Water is life — and Stephanie Garcia Richard is protecting it. As Land Commissioner, she rejected a pipeline proposal that would fuel a massive AI data center while draining New Mexico's most precious resource. That's the kind of leadership we need in the Lt. Gov's office. ✊ pic.twitter.com/zKxXXYCvrj
— Stephanie Garcia Richard (@SGR4NM) July 15, 2026
KOB has more:
Data centers have faced intense scrutiny not only in New Mexico but nationwide. This week, New York became the first U.S. state to impose a statewide moratorium on data centers to allow for more time to draw up regulations.
Santa Fe County recently approved a countywide moratorium with similar guidelines, raising the stakes within our state.
ADVERTISEMENTMeanwhile, Oracle issued this statement to KOB on the decision:
“Project Jupiter is being built for and by New Mexicans and will dramatically change the economic trajectory across the state. We’re creating 4,000 construction jobs – with more than 440 New Mexican residents already working on site today – 1,500 ongoing project-supported jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in the community, including $50 million to improve and repair Doña Ana County’s water system. Our cooling and fuel cell energy systems’ average annual water usage is less than what 9 U.S. households use in a year, and our new power strategy significantly reduces emissions compared to our prior power plan. Oracle is aiming to cover 100% of the electricity used by our AI Data Centers with carbon-free energy by 2035 — 10 years ahead of the 2045 net-zero goals set forth in New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act. The project remains on-schedule, and we continue to work closely with our partners and New Mexico’s public officials to move Project Jupiter forward.”
