Pending New Mexico · Bonds and tax incentives · Nov. 2026

Project Jupiter: New Mexico residents challenge $165 billion in data center bonds

A judge refused to dismiss the case, and the county is now questioning whether the developers kept their promise to stay off the grid.

By Tam Hunt

Project Jupiter is a proposed data center campus on about 1,400 acres near Santa Teresa and Sunland Park in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, tied in later coverage to Oracle and the OpenAI-linked “Stargate” buildout. It was pitched as running on its own gas and fuel-cell microgrid, so it would not burden the local grid. In September 2025, the Doña Ana County Commission approved up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds for the project.

The lawsuit. In October 2025, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center sued the commission in the Third Judicial District Court on behalf of local residents. The suit argues the county approved the bonds on incomplete applications, some with blank pages or pages marked “draft,” without weighing water, air and property-tax impacts, and that a data center does not qualify for incentives under the state’s Local Economic Development Act.

An early procedural win. In March 2026, Judge Jennifer DeLaney denied the county’s motion to dismiss, said the petitioners may be entitled to relief, and ordered the full administrative record produced. She declined to pause the incentives while the case proceeds. The merits are still pending, and related open-meetings and public-records suits have been filed.

The grid promise is now in question. In late October 2026 the commission voted to notify the developers of a possible breach of the bond agreement, after reports that Oracle wants backup power from El Paso Electric despite the promised off-grid microgrid. An air permit hearing is set for December.

Why it matters. “We’ll bring our own power” is becoming a standard pitch. This case shows why it has to be written into enforceable conditions, with ratepayer protections if the project later asks the utility for service. Without those terms, the costs of serving a campus this size can end up on everyone else’s bills.

Sources: Las Cruces Sun-News, Mar. 20, 2026 · Albuquerque Journal, Mar. 24, 2026 · KRWG, Oct. 28, 2026