SANTA FE, September 18 — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously denied two challenges brought by environmental groups against regulatory proceedings for the Project Jupiter data center under construction in Doña Ana County, and unpaused proceedings that had been frozen since August. The brief orders issued Sept. 17 rejected August requests from the Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy and the national Center for Biological Diversity.
Those requests had challenged the data center’s pending air quality permit application with the New Mexico Environment Department and its use of an emergency water well for construction. The court offered no further comment on its reasoning.
What the Court Did
The practical effect is that the regulatory process resumes. The Supreme Court had paused the proceedings in August while it evaluated the environmental groups’ complaints, and Thursday’s orders lifted that freeze. The air quality permit hearing had initially been scheduled to begin Monday in southern New Mexico.
The NMED hearing officer who presided over the air quality permit application abruptly recused himself from the matter in August. The department has yet to appoint a replacement or hold a scheduling conference to set a new hearing date.
NMED spokesperson Drew Goretzka told Source NM that department officials will follow the guidance of the new hearing officer. Colin Cox, a New Mexico-based attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, told Source NM on Thursday, “I don’t know what to say. I’m a little surprised that they granted both stays, which was pretty extraordinary and then pulled them without any explanation.”
The Plaintiffs’ Case
In a statement, New Energy Economy Executive Director Mariel Nanasi said the plaintiffs were “terribly disappointed,” but acknowledged they had asked the state’s highest court “for extraordinary relief.” “We went to the Supreme Court because we believed the rules of this proceeding were stacked against meaningful public participation,” Nanasi said.
“We sought a fair opportunity for the public to obtain the evidence, test the claims being made by the applicant and present its case before New Mexico decides whether to authorize an enormous new source of pollution.” State environment officials will decide whether to grant the data center developer’s request to issue an air quality permit for its proposed on-site energy source, a natural-gas powered fuel cell system. Projections show that, if approved, it would emit as many greenhouse gases annually as New Mexico’s largest cities combined.
The case was reported by Joshua Bowling of Source New Mexico on Sept. 17, 2026. The Project Jupiter data center was pictured on June 26, 2026, in a photo courtesy of Alexa Reynaud, Food & Water Watch, with aerial support provided by LightHawk. What comes next now rests with NMED.
The department must name a new hearing officer and set a fresh hearing date before the permit question is resolved.
