New Mexico Supreme Court puts Project Jupiter air proceeding, emergency well authorization on hold
The New Mexico Supreme Court has stayed Project Jupiter’s air-quality permitting proceeding and an emergency authorization allowing water from a new well to be used for construction.
Two unanimous orders pause an air-quality permitting case and use of water from a new well for construction while the justices consider separate legal challenges
Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News
LAS CRUCES - The New Mexico Supreme Court has temporarily halted two state actions tied to Project Jupiter, staying an air-quality permitting proceeding and an emergency authorization allowing water from a new well to be used for construction of the massive data center project in Doña Ana County.
The court issued separate unanimous orders Sunday night in cases brought by New Energy Economy and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Both stays remain in effect until further order of the court. Responses in both cases are due by Sept. 2.
The orders do not decide the merits of either legal challenge.
In the air case, New Energy Economy v. New Mexico Environment Department, the Supreme Court granted an emergency request to stay the underlying administrative proceeding involving Yucca Growth Infrastructure LLC’s application for Air Quality Permit No. 10883.
The proceeding concerns the air permit sought for Project Jupiter’s microgrid.
A hearing had been scheduled to begin Sept. 14.
New Energy Economy asked the Supreme Court to intervene less than a month before the hearing, arguing that the expedited schedule did not provide opponents enough time to investigate technical evidence and prepare their case.
The Supreme Court’s Aug. 23 order does not address those arguments. It simply grants the requested stay while the court considers New Energy Economy’s petition for a writ of mandamus.
Chief Justice Julie J. Vargas and Justices Michael E. Vigil, C. Shannon Bacon, David K. Thomson and Briana H. Zamora all concurred.
The court ordered that a response may be filed by Sept. 2. No reply may be filed unless the court orders one.
New-well authorization also stayed
A second order issued minutes later pauses an October 2025 emergency drilling authorization allowing water from a new well to be used for Project Jupiter construction.
That case, Center for Biological Diversity v. Elizabeth Anderson, names State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson as the respondent and Santa Teresa Capital LLC as the real party in interest.
The Supreme Court granted the Center for Biological Diversity’s request to stay the Oct. 23, 2025 authorization “permitting the use of water from a new well for the construction of Project Jupiter.”
That authorization is now stayed until further order of the court.
The justices again set a Sept. 2 deadline for a response and prohibited a reply unless specifically ordered.
All five justices concurred in that order as well.
The water order is narrowly written. It stays the emergency drilling authorization and the use of water from that new well for construction. It does not, on its face, order all Project Jupiter construction to stop or suspend every water-related approval associated with the development.
Likewise, the air order pauses the administrative permitting proceeding rather than issuing a final decision on Yucca Growth Infrastructure’s application.
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Support Organ Mountain NewsTwo legal fronts now paused
The orders place two separate Project Jupiter regulatory disputes before the state’s highest court at the same time.
The air case centers on the Environment Department proceeding over the project’s proposed microgrid, while the water case challenges an emergency authorization issued by the Office of the State Engineer.
The air permit application covers a Bloom Energy fuel-cell system proposed to generate electricity for the nearby data center complex.
Project Jupiter has drawn increasing scrutiny over its electricity generation, water demand, environmental permitting and the speed at which the multibillion-dollar development has moved through state and local processes.
Sunday’s orders do not determine whether either challenged state action was lawful.
For now, however, both the air proceeding and the emergency new-well authorization are frozen while the Supreme Court considers what comes next.
Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.
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