NMELC News:
LAS CRUCES — Tuesday, Jan. 20, 16 organizations across the state of New Mexico sent a letter to New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Secretary James Kenney and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, demanding NMED prioritize community and public transparency and participation in the air quality permitting application process for Project Jupiter, the massive hyperscale data center project proposed in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
New Mexico communities must have the opportunity to be meaningfully informed and participate in decisions that will significantly impact their homes, families, health, and futures.
Data centers, like the proposed Project Jupiter, use massive amounts of water in order to operate and across the nation, create an immense strain on local electricity grids and public water supplies; increase electricity and water bills for both local residents and businesses; and significantly increase noise, light, air, water, and soil pollution in neighboring communities. Project Jupiter, alongside its proposed microgrid, natural gas power plants, battery storage center, and desalination plant, is seeking to make its home in Santa Teresa, where community members have already lacked access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water for decades.
The letter included 5 demands:
- Extending the public comment period by 30 days
- A public hearing be held no less than 90 days after NMED shares its analyses with the public
- Project Jupiter’s applications must be made public including all information, modeling and technical data
- Applications and notices must be distributed in both English and Spanish
- Public hearing must be held in the local community, in Santa Teresa
The letter was signed by 16 organizations.
Nov. 14, 2025, Acoma LLC announced its applications to the New Mexico Environment Department for two air quality permits for the construction of two neighboring microgrid facilities to power Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The proposed greenhouse gas emissions for the microgrid facilities are more than 14 million tons per year, more than the total emissions of Las Cruces and Albuquerque combined – with Project Jupiter sited within a few miles of residences and Santa Teresa High School. On December 17, the New Mexico Environment Department deemed Project Jupiter’s air quality permit applications incomplete, setting a deadline of Jan. 19, 2026, for Project Jupiter to provide more information.
The development of Project Jupiter has been shrouded in secrecy and rushed. Information about the Project came to light only a few months ago, when the Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners voted to issue $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds, and additional Local Economic Development Act funding, to support the speculative project.
Now, with the related air pollution permits, NMED has the opportunity to ensure a transparent public process, providing adequate time for community input, consideration, and participation.
NOTE:
The U.S Congressional House Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy and Supply Chains is scheduled to hold a hearing entitled, “Empowering Rural America Through Investment in Innovation” at 10 a.m. EST/8 a.m. MST, Wednesday, Jan. 21, examining the impact of data centers on rural communities.
Our clients in Southern NM were invited to testify and submitted written testimony which can be accessed here.
Sunland Park and Santa Teresa community members are a part of Doña Ana County’s rural-agricultural tradition and identity, and have been fighting for decades for clean, safe, and accessible drinking water amidst New Mexico’s ongoing megadrought. As stated in the written testimony, “Project Jupiter will alter the landscape and lives of rural Southern New Mexico communities to the point where neither our strong agricultural practices can survive, nor can the inherent and fundamental right to accessible, clean, and safe drinking water be truly honored and guaranteed to Santa Teresa and Sunland Park community members.”
The hearing will be streamed on the House Small Business Subcommittee YouTube account, https://www.youtube.com/SmallBizRepublicans.