Oracle Says It Cut Project Jupiter's Permitted Emissions About 35 Percent. The Hearing Officer Says the Dec. 7 Hearing Stands.

One day after a New Mexico environmental group asked the state to throw out Project Jupiter's air permit application as incomplete, Oracle announced it had cut the project's permitted emissions by about 35 percent. The hearing officer then denied the motion to dismiss and kept the public hearing on the calendar for Dec. 7 in Sunland Park.

The two facts sit side by side in reporting from the past two weeks. What the revised application actually says is not yet in our hands, and the Albuquerque Journal's account of it and Oracle's release describe the revision differently.

New Energy Economy, a Santa Fe nonprofit, filed a motion on Oct. 14 asking the state Environment Department to dismiss the air permit application of Yucca Growth Infrastructure as incomplete. Its argument: revisions made earlier in October require a more extensive technical review, about 45 days, by the department and other participants. Mariel Nanasi of New Energy Economy said in a news release: "These are not minor corrections."

Hearing Officer James Browning denied the motion and kept the Dec. 7 date. Department spokesperson Drew Goretzka said the department opposed the motion, does not know how long the technical review will take, and is still waiting for information from the applicant. Secretary James Kenney appointed Browning after the earlier hearing officer, Max Shepherd, recused himself. Deputy Secretary John Rhoderick will decide whether to issue the permit.

In an Oct. 15 news release, Oracle said a refinement to the Bloom Energy fuel cell microgrid cuts permitted emissions by about 35 percent, including greenhouse gases. Oracle's Mahesh Thiagarajan said, "We're proud of the low-emissions solution that Bloom Energy fuel cells bring to Project Jupiter." The application also describes an enforceable operating cap of 1,600 megawatts, about 65 percent of the 2.4 gigawatts of capacity, which the applicant says would cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3 million tons a year.

These are the applicant's figures. In August, Oracle cited a different one: nitrogen oxide emissions reduced by about 92 percent compared with the prior design. The two numbers use different baselines and different pollutants, so they cannot be compared with each other.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Yucca Growth Infrastructure's revised application describes a 2.4-gigawatt gas-fueled plant using fuel cells that do not combust the fuel, with an enforceable cap of 1,600 megawatts and fuel cell stacks rising from 30 to 45 feet. The same report says the applicant is making no engineering changes that reduce emissions and has asked instead to refine its permit language. Oracle, which is partnering with the applicant, calls its change a more environmentally protective refinement that cuts permitted emissions by about 35 percent. New Energy Economy's Nanasi says the changes "fundamentally change the pollution sources, emissions estimates, and modeling assumptions." Oracle, its executive and the applicant did not respond to the Journal's requests for comment. Only the filing in the department's record can show which description is right.

The hearing starts at 9 a.m. Dec. 7 at the Sunland Park Multi-Generational Center, 4700 McNutt Road. The first day is reserved for public comment, with three minutes allowed per speaker. An earlier hearing date in September was canceled while the New Mexico Supreme Court considered challenges from New Energy Economy and the Center for Biological Diversity; the court later denied them. Fuel has been a separate problem. After the Commissioner of Public Lands denied the Green Chili Lateral rights-of-way and business lease for a natural gas pipeline, the earlier hearing officer's Aug. 5 order asked the applicant and the department to address whether another legally obtainable gas source could supply the roughly 400 million cubic feet per day the project needs, and whether the project can still be built as proposed.

How we reported this: statements and figures come from published reports by the Albuquerque Journal, Source New Mexico, CBS 4 and KOB 4, the Environment Department's Aug. 5, 2026 order in application AQB 26-57, which we read, and Oracle's quoted release. We have not read the revised air permit application, the Oct. 14 motion or the order denying dismissal, so the application details above are secondhand, and the 35 percent and 92 percent figures are Oracle's and have not been checked against the filing. We are looking for the revised application, the order denying dismissal and the department's technical review schedule. Oracle, the applicant Yucca Growth Infrastructure, New Energy Economy and the Environment Department are being asked for comment; responses will be added with a dated update. Tips and corrections: [email protected].