Oracle and BorderPlex Digital Assets have overhauled the power strategy for Project Jupiter, replacing previously planned gas turbines and diesel generators with a 2.45 GW solid oxide fuel cell microgrid supplied by Bloom Energy - a design the companies say will operate entirely off the public grid. The announcement, made April 27, 2026, marks a significant pivot for one of the largest proposed data center investments in U.S. history and coincides with a new air quality permit application to New Mexico regulators.
Background
Project Jupiter is a four-building AI data center campus under construction near Santa Teresa in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, developed by BorderPlex Digital Assets in partnership with Oracle and STACK Infrastructure. The project falls under the broader $500 billion Stargate initiative and carries a total investment commitment of up to $165 billion over a 30-year term, according to Doña Ana County records.
Since its inception, the project's proposed on-site natural gas plants drew sustained regulatory and community opposition over air quality impacts. The New Mexico Environment Department determined the original permit applications were incomplete, citing concerns about nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) emissions, and pushed its review deadline to July 2026. Previous projections placed on-site greenhouse gas emissions above 14 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent per year, according to Source NM - figures that climate advocates initially assumed were typographical errors.
Details
Under the revised design, Bloom Energy's solid oxide fuel cells will replace all planned gas turbines and diesel generators, consolidating the campus into a single, behind-the-meter microgrid that operates independently of the local utility grid, according to the joint press release from Oracle, BorderPlex, and Bloom Energy. Solid oxide fuel cells convert natural gas into electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion - a distinction the companies say yields significantly lower criteria pollutant emissions.
According to Oracle, the new configuration reduces NOₓ emissions by approximately 92% compared to the previously planned gas turbines and uses a negligible amount of water. The revised air quality permit application submitted to the New Mexico Environment Department's Air Quality Bureau projects greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 10.1 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent per year - a reduction of roughly 30% from prior plans, according to filings published in the Las Cruces Sun News.
Bloom Energy's Chief Commercial Officer Aman Joshi described the project as what is expected to be "one of the largest data center microgrids operating in the United States at the time of completion". The arrangement is part of an expanded Oracle-Bloom partnership supporting up to 2.8 GW of fuel cell deployments across U.S. projects, according to Converge Digest. Mahesh Thiagarajan, Executive Vice President of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, stated the fuel cell approach delivers "highly reliable on-site power with a lower environmental footprint." Oracle confirmed it will bear all energy costs, with no impact on local electricity rates or grid stability.
Environmental advocates remain skeptical. New Mexico Environmental Law Center staff attorney Kacey Hovden said the revised figures still raise serious concerns about whether the project constitutes a genuine clean energy solution. Separately, the New Mexico State Ethics Commission announced last week it is suing an anonymous out-of-state group that ran a lobbying campaign in support of the original gas plant plans, alleging violations of the state Lobbyist Regulation Act.
Outlook
The New Mexico Environment Department must now evaluate the new fuel cell permit application. The agency's prior July 2026 deadline - set for deliberations over the original gas plant proposals - is of uncertain relevance. BorderPlex stated it intends to pursue additional clean energy initiatives in New Mexico, including solar, storage, and geothermal projects. Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar, speaking on a Q1 2026 earnings call in which the company reported record quarterly revenue, characterized Project Jupiter as a replicable model for powering large-scale AI infrastructure in regions where grid capacity and water availability are constrained.
