New Mexico land commissioner again denies pipeline route for Project Jupiter data center

SANTA TERESA, NEW MEXICO (KFOX14/CBS4) — A proposed natural gas pipeline tied to the controversial Project Jupiter data center in southern New Mexico has hit another setback after New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard again denied a request to route part of the line through state trust lands.

The request came from Energy Transfer after Garcia Richard first rejected applications for the project in March.

The proposed pipeline includes a 0.6-mile stretch across state lands as part of a larger 17-mile natural gas pipeline intended to serve Project Jupiter.

In a letter dated July 14, Garcia Richard said approving the request would not be in the best interest of the state trust.

Garcia Richard also said the pipeline appears to offer few benefits to the State Land Office’s beneficiary institutions, the local community or New Mexico as a whole.

READ THE FULL LETTER HERE:

The denied pipeline comes after Oracle, which is tied to the data center project, said the data center will provide benefits including jobs and millions of dollars in investments.

Previously speaking to KFOX14/CBS4, Mahesh Thiagarajan executive vice president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, said the company has made changes to its energy needs base on public feedback.

“If you look at the community feedback around the power design, we actually made a very important change to go from the previous design to a clean fuel cell-based energy design that actually brings NOx emissions by about 92%, carbon emissions by about 21%,” Thiagarajan previously told KFOX14/CBS4. “And all of those changes are essentially, that’s because Oracle’s listening. We’re listening to the community. We’re reacting to their feedback.”

However, Project Jupiter has remained a contentious issue in Doña Ana County, with residents continuing to voice concerns over Project Jupiter, with opponents raising questions about the project’s potential impacts and the county’s decision-making process.

RECOMMENDED: Residents dressed up as clowns speak out on Project Jupiter at Doña Ana commission meeting

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