Oracle’s proposal to deliver at least $155 million in utility payments and customer credits linked to its Project Jupiter AI data center collided with strong resistance from Doña Ana County commissioners on Oct. 13, prompting a company executive to offer to scrap the plan, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
During a scheduled update to the county board, Oracle representatives outlined a proposed Energy Service Agreement under which the company would pay El Paso Electric $10 million a year for 10 years, even if its power use falls short of contracted levels, to cover late-stage construction, commissioning, emergency backup power and life-safety needs. Oracle separately proposed up to $55 million a year for as many as three years in bill credits for El Paso Electric’s residential and small-business customers in New Mexico; one year of the maximum credit brings the package to the "at least $155 million" figure. Oracle said the campus’s primary power source would remain an on-site Bloom Energy fuel-cell microgrid.
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The announcement, released about 30 minutes before the meeting, caught board members off guard. Commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez argued the plan effectively tied Project Jupiter to local ratepayers after repeated assurances that the data center would generate its own power, noting that rates are set by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. Commission Chair Manny Sanchez and others said the county’s industrial revenue bond ordinance requires the project to rely on a microgrid, so a grid connection could require amendments needing further board approval. Commissioners Susie Kimble and Susana Chaparro also objected to the late notice.
Mahesh Thiagarajan, executive vice president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and the project’s lead, acknowledged the misstep and told commissioners, "I will undo any decision, if that’s what it takes," the Albuquerque Journal reported. It remained unclear whether Oracle would formally withdraw the proposal.
What's Next
Further discussions between Oracle and the county are expected.
Why It Matters
The episode underscores persistent tensions between the economic promise of large-scale data centers and local concerns about infrastructure impacts and ratepayer protections in southern New Mexico.
About This Story
Daily Reports is Brant.One’s news roundup. Each day we gather the New Mexico stories worth knowing from newsrooms across the state, sum them up and point you to the source. This one comes from the Albuquerque Journal’s reporting, and their original story has the interviews and full details.
Editor’s note: Updated Oct. 31, 2026. This story is now part of Daily Reports, our New Mexico news roundup, and was revised to credit the Albuquerque Journal’s original reporting. Learn how Daily Reports works in our editorial standards.
