New Mexico State Ethics Commission announces settlement with group behind Project Jupiter mailers
The New Mexico State Ethics Commission reached a settlement with Elevate New Mexico, the group behind pro-Project Jupiter mailers and ads, requiring lobbying and campaign finance disclosures.
Elevate New Mexico agreed to file lobbying and campaign finance disclosures showing nearly $3.7 million in contributions from Project Jupiter developer Yucca Growth Infrastructure
Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.
The New Mexico State Ethics Commission on Tuesday announced it had reached a settlement agreement with Elevate New Mexico, the Virginia-based corporation behind pro-Project Jupiter mailers and social media ads.
The State Ethics Commission sued the group in April – a month after Source NM revealed that an out-of-state company with no publicly listed executives was behind the effort – and accused it of violating the state Lobbyist Regulation Act.
Joshua Bowling
The mailers and social media advertisements encouraged New Mexicans to support the proposal, which has since been withdrawn, to build two natural gas plants to power Project Jupiter, the OpenAI and Oracle data center under construction in Doña Ana County. Developers have since modified the plans to rely on fuel cells rather than on-site gas plants.
A public hearing on whether to issue an air quality permit for the proposal is scheduled for September.
Under the settlement agreement announced Tuesday, Elevate New Mexico will file paperwork for a lobbying advertising campaign and campaign finance disclosures with the New Mexico Secretary of State, the State Ethics Commission said in a news release.
The State Ethics Commission said that Elevate New Mexico’s filings show it received nearly $3.7 million in contributions, all from Project Jupiter’s developer, Yucca Growth Infrastructure, and reported more than $419,000 in advertising expenses.
“Project Jupiter has attracted widespread public attention because of its potential economic, environmental, and energy impacts for New Mexico,” State Ethics Commission Deputy Director Amelia Bierle said in a statement. “These disclosures reveal the significant financial resources devoted to influencing both the public and, indirectly, the NMED officials considering the permits required for Project Jupiter. By enforcing the Lobbyist Regulation Act, the State Ethics Commission ensures that this information is publicly available, allowing New Mexicans to evaluate advertising campaigns with an understanding of who financed them, the magnitude of the financial resources behind them and how those resources were deployed.”
Elevate New Mexico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Joshua Bowling is a senior reporter for Source New Mexico. He's reported in New Mexico, where he broke stories of lavish spending at Western New Mexico University and more, since 2022.
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