Project Jupiter Air Permit: Developer Waives Nov. 23 Deadline, Seeks Delay

Yucca Growth Infrastructure, the developer of the fuel-cell plant meant to power Oracle's Project Jupiter campus in New Mexico, waived the Nov. 23 deadline for a decision on its air permit and joined state regulators on Nov. 3 in asking to vacate the Dec. 7 public hearing, according to the joint motion filed on the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) docket.

Organ Mountain News and New Energy Economy describe the filing as a reversal of the developer's position: Organ Mountain News reported that Yucca said in an Oct. 23 filing that it had not waived the deadline. The plant is the 2,462 MW nameplate Bloom Energy fuel-cell project that Voltgrid profiled on Oct. 27, after hearing officer James O. Browning refused on Oct. 26 to dismiss the application. The new motion removes the date by which the permit had to be decided and sets no replacement.

What the motion asks, and what is only reported

The motion, signed by counsel for Yucca and NMED's general counsel, says the department had to send its hearing notice to newspapers on Nov. 3 to keep the Dec. 7 date, and needs more time to finish reviewing revisions Yucca submitted in October. It asks Browning not to set a new date until NMED's Air Quality Bureau files a revised recommendation. If that recommendation favors issuing the permit, it must come with an amended draft permit, a statement of basis and a modeling report. The bureau also says it will not seek denial or dismissal of application 10883 without a finding under the state air-quality rules.

The vacatur is a request, not a ruling. Organ Mountain News said on the morning of Nov. 5 that it could not verify an order granting the motion, so the Dec. 7 hearing has not been confirmed cancelled. An NMED notice filed Nov. 4 schedules a virtual hearing on five pending motions, the joint motion among them, without stating the date in the filed document. NMED spokesperson Drew Goretzka told Searchlight New Mexico the agency cannot estimate how long its review will take, citing its iterative nature.

Why the review reopened

New Energy Economy, a Santa Fe environmental group, filed a renewed motion to dismiss on Nov. 4 and opposed vacating the hearing without dismissal. Its filing argues that Yucca filed a substantially revised design around Oct. 16, describing a three-tier, vertically stacked fuel-cell arrangement (about 1,263 clusters, by the group's count), and cites an Oct. 2 NMED letter as finding that estimated emissions rose about 2% while some modeled pollutant concentrations doubled, tripled or quadrupled. Those are the group's characterizations in a contested proceeding. The same filing quotes NMED counsel telling the hearing officer on Oct. 29 that the bureau could not finish a revised draft permit in time to post it 30 days before Dec. 7.

What it means for the campus

The air permit is the main approval the generating plant still lacks, and Searchlight New Mexico reported that the campus buildings already put up remain without power. Yucca told regulators it plans to build the full 2,462 MW nameplate but operate no more than 1,600 MW, a cap it has offered and the state has not approved. Yucca calls its October changes refinements; New Energy Economy calls the revision substantial. With no hearing date, there is no scheduled evidentiary hearing yet on that capacity. Oracle's plan for the campus remains 2028, Engineering News-Record reported in September.

Searchlight New Mexico reported that the decision may slip into the new year, after Gov.-elect Deb Haaland takes office. Haaland has said she plans an executive order on her first day pausing large data-center development. Whether such an order would reach a permit already under review has not been stated. The next markers are Browning's ruling on the joint motion and on New Energy Economy's request, and the date NMED files its revised recommendation.