KEY POINTS
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Oracle said that Project Jupiter will replace its previously planned gas turbines and diesel generators with a Bloom Energy fuel-cell microgrid campus supported by up to 2.45 GW of installed capacity in Doña Ana County, N.M.
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The change follows regulatory opposition for the project’s gas supply path. New Mexico’s State Land Office denied key pipeline-related permits in March, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff later protested the developer’s filing as incomplete.
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Oracle framed the redesign around local concerns, saying the Bloom system will cut emissions about 92% versus the prior turbine plan, use a negligible amount of water, and leave residents’ electricity rates and grid stability untouched.
Oracle dropped the gas-turbine-and-diesel design for its Project Jupiter AI campus in Doña Ana County, N.M., and says it will instead power the site with a Bloom Energy fuel-cell microgrid sized at up to 2.45 gigawatts.
Oracle’s move rewrites the power strategy for one of the country’s largest announced AI infrastructure projects, expected to be around 3 million-square-feet. The company said Bloom’s fuel cells will fully power the campus and replace the earlier plan for gas turbines and diesel backup with one on-site microgrid, in an April 27 statement.
The reversal comes after weeks of pressure on the gas buildout behind the project. The New Mexico State Land Office denied five Project Jupiter-related applications, including right-of-way requests tied to the proposed natural-gas pipeline and a business lease for a meter station on state land.
Source New Mexico then reported that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff resisted the pipeline developer’s April filing because it lacked required historic-preservation documentation, putting the project’s fast-track federal path at risk.
Business Insider reported May 7 that Oracle canceled the gas-plant plan after those federal and state setbacks and withdrew pending air permit applications tied to the gas design on April 27.
A rendering of Project Jupiter, Oracle's 3-million-square-foot data center campus in Doña Ana County, N.M. Image: Project Jupiter
Why Oracle Says the New Mexico Power Design Matters
Oracle, BorderPlex Digital Assets, and Bloom Energy said the revised design is meant to preserve local electricity rates, sharply reduce water use, and protect air quality around the campus.
Mahesh Thiagarajan, executive vice president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, said the updated plan reflects Oracle’s commitment to “the latest innovation and community priorities” as it builds AI infrastructure.
According to Oracle, Bloom Energy fuel cells generate electricity without combustion, which the company says lowers emissions and water use versus the prior turbine design. Oracle said the new setup will reduce NOx emissions by about 92% compared with the earlier plan and use a negligible amount of water.
Bloom Energy fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process rather than combustion, according to the company. Oxygen from the air combines with a fuel source inside the cell to produce power as fuel is supplied. Because the system does not burn fuel to create heat and spin turbines, it can run with lower emissions, minimal water use, and quieter operation than conventional generation equipment.
Oracle also said it will continue to bear all Project Jupiter energy costs, which it says means no effect on residents’ electricity rates or grid stability. The company tied that claim to the site’s closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling system, which it says is designed to minimize day-to-day water use.
Natural Gas Pipeline Authorized by BLM
One regulatory hurdle now appears to be cleared to bring onsite power to the Oracle site. Business Insider reported in late April that new permit applications filed with the New Mexico Environment Department indicate the Project Jupiter fuel cells will use natural gas, even though the system no longer relies on the previously proposed gas-turbine power plant configuration.
According to a May 6 press release, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said it fast-tracked right-of-way authorization for a roughly 16-mile line, the Green Chile Natural Gas Pipeline, that connects "an El Paso Natural Gas Company existing pipeline to serve a data center on private land in the county." Once the rights of way are issued, construction can begin on that pipeline. The pipeline is expected to move up to 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to the assumed customer at the Jupiter site.
Speed also seems to play into the redesigned power configuration. Bloom Energy has previously stated that it can "deliver highly reliable and cost-efficient onsite power for an entire data center within 90 days."
Bloom’s Role Grows as Developers Pursue On-Site Power
The New Mexico redesign also sits inside a broader Oracle-Bloom expansion. Bloom said April 13 that Oracle intends to procure up to 2.8 GW of Bloom fuel-cell capacity under a master services agreement, with an initial 1.2 GW already contracted across Oracle projects in the U.S. For Project Jupiter specifically, Oracle’s April 27 release puts installed Bloom capacity at up to 2.45 GW.
Expectations around the energy sector related to data centers is robust. In a 2025 survey, Bloom Energy found that "share of new campuses expected to exceed 1 GW rises from roughly one in five in 2030 to nearly one in three by 2035. To contextualize this scale, each 1 GW campus would consume as much as roughly 20% of New York City’s entire electricity load."
Despite the surge seen in data center construction starts and project announcements, the projects face a swarm of challenges from labor and materials pricing and availability, energy infrastructure, real estate, natural resources usage, environmental regulations, political and local opposition. Although there appears to be no slowdown in data center ambitions.
Bloom describes its solid oxide fuel cells as providers of on-site electricity for data centers and other large industrial users. The company says its modular systems can be deployed faster than traditional power infrastructure, a selling point as AI developers run into interconnection delays and utility bottlenecks.
How fuel cells work. Bloom’s on-site, data center fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process rather than combustion. Oxygen from the air combines with a fuel source inside the cell to produce power as fuel is supplied. Because the system does not burn fuel to create heat and spin turbines, it can run with lower emissions, minimal water use, and quieter operation than conventional generation equipment.
What Project Jupiter Means for Contractors and Suppliers
Oracle said construction remains on schedule. The company expects Project Jupiter to create 4,000 construction jobs over the life of the project and support 1,500 ongoing positions on-site and in the surrounding community.
Oracle also said the project has committed $50 million for localwater-system work, $360 million for schools, infrastructure, and services, and $6.9 million for workforce and community programs.
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