Environmental Health Expert Supports Project Jupiter Power Plan

By Oracle-Sep 14, 2026

Project Jupiter's updated energy plan is designed to reduce air emissions and water use while providing reliable power for the data center and delivering long-term benefits for Southern New Mexico.

In comments submitted to the New Mexico Environment Department, Dr. Christopher Ollson, an environmental-health scientist with more than 25 years of experience assessing facility emissions and public-health impacts, supported the air-permit application for the project's fuel-cell microgrid. Dr. Ollson was retained by Yucca Growth Infrastructure to review the application.

The project is located in the Paso del Norte border airshed, which includes southern Doña Ana County, El Paso, and Ciudad Juárez. Communities in this region have long faced air-quality challenges from sources including traffic, industry, and windblown dust.

Dr. Ollson's review found that Project Jupiter's proposed fuel-cell technology is a cleaner alternative to the natural-gas turbines and diesel backup generators previously planned for the site. Fuel cells generate electricity electrochemically rather than through combustion, substantially limiting the pollutants commonly associated with combustion-based power sources. "Because there is no flame and no combustion zone, the formation of these pollutants is largely avoided at the source." Dr. Ollson noted that the pollutants that burden the Paso del Norte border airshed "are precisely the ones avoided by fuel cell technology."

According to Dr. Ollson's review, the updated design is expected to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by approximately 92 percent compared with the prior design. It would also avoid the need for diesel backup generators, which can be a source of particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions. "Because this community's airshed is already overburdened, the choice of energy-generating technology matters," Dr. Ollson wrote.

Dr. Ollson also notes that the updated design significantly reduces ongoing water use to a "negligible amount." Project Jupiter will use no public drinking water for data center cooling or fuel-cell operations. The systems require a one-time fill of approximately 11 million gallons of non-potable water; after that, ongoing maintenance is expected to require about 168,000 gallons per year. Averaged over 15 years, that is roughly the annual water use of nine U.S. households over the same time period. Oracle is also working with Arable to conserve more water than the project uses, and the project has committed $50 million to local water and wastewater infrastructure in Dona Ana County, with approximately 80 percent already funded.

Project Jupiter has generated nearly $80 million in state and county tax revenue and is expected to bring more than $4.7 billion in long-term economic impact to New Mexico. Nearly 700 New Mexico residents have worked onsite to date, and the project is on pace to create more than 7,000 construction jobs and 1,500 ongoing project-supported jobs once construction is complete.

Project Jupiter remains committed to developing responsibly, protecting New Mexico's resources, and engaging transparently with the community.