Project Jupiter TogetherForce Upgrade

This is the plan. Four changes, six conditions, one campus, in the order of what they do for the air, the water and the land.

The site

DRY COOLERSnorth bandWAREHOUSEoutside the fenceDATA CENTERnorth row, westDATA CENTERnorth row, eastOPERATIONSoutside the fencePARKINGDATA CENTERmain hallDATA CENTEReast of the main hallCHILLER PLANTCHILLER PLANTCHILLER PLANTUNITSUNITSUNITSDRY COOLERSsouth band, westDRY COOLERSsouth band, eastSECURE ENTRANCEgate in the fenceSECURE EXITgate in the fenceGUARD BOOTHon the public roadGATEGATECO₂ CAPTUREinside the fence, at the exhaustHXheat exch.SOLAR STRIPbetween dry coolers and greenhousesGREENHOUSES · PROPOSED · ~150 AClocation to be set from their site plan · ¼ roof semi-transparent solarWATER PLANT5 MGD RO · inside the fencePACKING · INSTITUTEfronts both roads · loading docks on the streetSECURITY FENCEwarm waterpreheatCO₂ to greenhousesDRONE VIEW FROM THEIR AUG. 27, 2026 RENDER. NORTH UP. NOT TO SURVEY SCALE.THE RENDER SHOWS THE 400-ACRE FIRST PHASE; THE 819-ACRE SITE EXTENDS BEYOND THIS VIEW

Every building in the filed plan stays exactly where it is. The capture skids sit beside the fuel cells, the water plant and recharge basins on the west side, and the greenhouses on the empty acres by the dry coolers, inside the extended fence.

Sources (4)
Sources
  1. [1] Project Jupiter Community Benefits Agreement (executed). Doña Ana County / Red Chiles A–D LLC / Yucca Growth Infrastructure LLC, Nov. 12, 2025. link ↗
  2. [6] Project Jupiter Site Render, Labeled (media gallery). Project Jupiter Together, Aug. 27, 2026. link ↗
  3. [9] Water Desalination Feasibility Study for Santa Teresa (Dr. Pei Xu, NMSU Civil Engineering). NMSU / New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, report M36 (also presented to the Legislature's Science, Technology & Telecommunications Committee), Oct. 31, 2023. link ↗
  4. [3] Draft Statement of Basis, NSR Permit 10883 — YGI Microgrid. New Mexico Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, July 29, 2026. link ↗
The main hall, truck dock and transformer yard in the developers' render
The main hall and transformer yard in their render. The map above is traced from this. Crop of Project Jupiter Together's labeled render, Aug. 27, 2026.

The four changes

Carbon

GASup to 400 MMcf a dayFUEL CELLceramic layers, no flameDATA HALLSelectricityexhaustDRYERtakes water outclean water from the dryertops off cooling loops, waters greenhousesabout 95% CO₂CAPTURE +COMPRESSmetered at the stacktarget 90-95%, from year 5not caught: 0.9 Mt a yearUSED FIRSTgreenhouses, concrete0.08 Mt a yearsoildrinking-water aquifer (shallow)cap rock: shale or salt, gas cannot passstored: 7.9 Mt a year, by pipelineabout 200 miles to Texas storage
Gas in, electricity out; the exhaust is dried to about 95% CO₂, captured at the target, a little fed to greenhouses and concrete, the rest piped to storage under cap rock. The cloud is the 5-10% not caught.

Dried, the exhaust from these fuel cells is about 95% CO₂, which is the easy case for capture. Bloom announced a capture product with Chart in 2025; no plant runs it yet, and the best capture plants anywhere sustain 50-75%. So the condition is metered tons against a 90-95% target, with the stacks built capture-ready before power-on. A little is fed to the greenhouses and to concrete; the rest goes by pipeline to storage in Texas.

Sources (8)
Sources
  1. [3] Draft Statement of Basis, NSR Permit 10883 — YGI Microgrid. New Mexico Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, July 29, 2026. link ↗
  2. [15] Bloom Energy and Chart Industries Announce Groundbreaking Carbon Capture Partnership. Bloom Energy, 2024. link ↗
  3. [64] BD3 Status Update: Q4 2024 (848,388 tonnes captured in 2024; 85% availability). SaskPower, 2025. link ↗
  4. [77] Draft Air Quality Permit 10883, Part A (Specific Conditions), YGI Microgrid. New Mexico Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, July 2026. link ↗
  5. [108] Greenhouse Carbon Dioxide Supplementation (HLA-6723). Oklahoma State University Extension (Bruce Dunn, Megha Poudel), 2023. link ↗
  6. [95] CarbonCure hits 10 million low-carbon concrete truckloads; more than 690,000 tonnes of CO₂ mineralized. Carbon Herald / CarbonCure, Nov. 2025. link ↗
  7. [53] Class VI — Wells used for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide. U.S. EPA, accessed Sept. 2026. link ↗
  8. [89] Credit for carbon oxide sequestration (Section 45Q). U.S. Internal Revenue Service, accessed Sept. 6, 2026. link ↗
A row of Bloom Energy Server fuel-cell cabinets
Bloom Energy Server cabinets, the same product family as the 2,275-stack plant in Permit 10883. Reference photo at another site. Photo: Bloom Energy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
The CO2 compressor at the Boundary Dam carbon-capture unit
The CO₂ compressor at Boundary Dam, Saskatchewan, a working capture plant: the exhaust is caught, dried and squeezed before it goes underground. Photo: Implicit Matrix, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
  • Condition 1
    Catch the CO₂ at the stack before power-on.
    Metered tons captured, published quarterly; a shortfall is charged in the lease.
  • Condition 2
    Every stack on a public meter, limits set for the capture configuration.
    Continuous monitors per cluster with same-day public data.

Water

BRACKISH WELLSsalty, 1,000-10,000 mg/L, looks clear6.7 MGD saltyPREHEAT from the computers, +15 °CFILTERSsand, cartridgesREVERSE OSMOSIS, five 1 MGD skids, about 800 psisalt stays on one side of each membrane; water squeezes throughTREATED WATER, 5 MGD (75% of the feed)TO THE TOWNS' PIPESreplaces fresh-well pumping17k homes' daily water, 83% of the 2027 needused water goes back to the treatment plant, as todayreclaimed water recharged, about 2 MGD from year 51.7 MGD brine, injected about 20 miles awaybrackish aquiferconfining rocksealed 3,700-4,000 ft down; it does not loop back
Three brackish wells feed 6.7 million gallons a day through a preheater, filters and reverse osmosis; 5 come out clean for the towns' pipes, 1.7 of brine go to deep injection wells below the aquifer. Recharge of the towns' reclaimed water begins in year 5 under a state permit.

NMSU designed a plant in 2023 that makes 5 million gallons a day from brackish water nobody can drink. The county is already building a smaller one with $15 million of Project Jupiter tax money; the condition is that the developer funds the full NMSU system instead and hands it to the towns' utility. There's no surplus, the towns will need 6 million a day next year, so the recharge is the towns' reclaimed water, about 2 million gallons a day, under a state storage permit. The decline slows. It doesn't reverse, and I won't say it does.

Sources (9)
Sources
  1. [9] Water Desalination Feasibility Study for Santa Teresa (Dr. Pei Xu, NMSU Civil Engineering). NMSU / New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, report M36 (also presented to the Legislature's Science, Technology & Telecommunications Committee), Oct. 31, 2023. link ↗
  2. [67] United States: El Paso full-recovery desalination plant (company page). Enviro Water Minerals Company, accessed Sept. 6, 2026. link ↗
  3. [76] Science & Tech Spotlight: Critical Minerals from Seawater (GAO-25-108484). U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2025. link ↗
  4. [73] Ground Water Storage and Recovery Act, NMSA 1978 §§ 72-5A-1 to 72-5A-17 (and rules at 19.25.8 NMAC). New Mexico Legislature / Office of the State Engineer, 1999; rules current. link ↗
  5. [74] Bear Canyon Recharge Project: New Mexico's first permitted aquifer storage and recovery project. Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (and Case Studies in the Environment, 2021), 2008–2015. link ↗
  6. [82] Rio Rancho Pure: groundwater replenishment with purified reclaimed water. City of Rio Rancho, 2017–present. link ↗
  7. [71] Aquifer Recharge (Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant). El Paso Water, accessed Sept. 6, 2026. link ↗
  8. [68] Doña Ana County pursues desalination plant following Project Jupiter vote. Albuquerque Journal (also KFOX14, Oct. 17, 2025), Oct. 15, 2025. link ↗
  9. [107] NMSA 1978 § 72-12-8, Water right forfeiture (underground waters). New Mexico Statutes (Justia), current through 2025. link ↗
Reverse-osmosis pressure vessels at the Bedok NEWater factory
Reverse-osmosis vessels at Singapore's Bedok plant: each tube holds membranes that let water through and hold salt back. Photo: Z22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico
New Mexico's brackish-water research plant at Alamogordo. The Santa Teresa plant would be a larger version of this. Photo: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, public domain.
  • Condition 4
    Fund the NMSU water plant, hand it to the towns' utility, recharge the towns' reclaimed water, and leave the unused farm water right in the aquifer.
    Plant commissioned and transferred; recharge permit issued; conservation-program filing on record.
  • Condition 6
    A closure and monitoring bond, so the land and wells are cared for after the lease ends.
    Engineer's estimate posted, revised every five years, on the county's own solar-decommissioning template.

Heat, food and jobs

DATA HALLchips heat water to 45-65 °C / 113-149 °Fhot, about 60 °C / 140 °Fcool, about 35 °C / 95 °FHEAT EXCHANGERGREENHOUSES, 150 acres by year 10warm water heats roots, 90 MW, about 3,412 furnacesabout 1,000 jobsup to 60M lbs of food a yearWATER PLANTpreheats the salty feed, 10 MWDRY COOLERS, 2,362 MW still to the air
Warm water from the chips (45-65 °C / 113-149 °F) passes one heat exchanger before the dry coolers. On a cold night about 90 MW warms the roots of 150 acres of greenhouses and 10 MW preheats the water plant; the fans still reject about 2,362 MW. Summer heat is not used.

The computers reject about 2,462 megawatts of heat through fans. One heat exchanger before those fans carries it, as warm water, to greenhouses on the empty land beside them: root-zone heat for cool seasons and mornings; in summer they vent like any greenhouse, so I don't count summer. The signed agreement binds the company to 750 jobs; greenhouses, the water plant, capture and a training institute lift the enforceable count to about 3,000, paid as jobs are verified each year.

Sources (9)
Sources
  1. [97] Waste heat recoveries in data centers: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (ScienceDirect), 2023. link ↗
  2. [9] Water Desalination Feasibility Study for Santa Teresa (Dr. Pei Xu, NMSU Civil Engineering). NMSU / New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, report M36 (also presented to the Legislature's Science, Technology & Telecommunications Committee), Oct. 31, 2023. link ↗
  3. [85] Microsoft's $2bn Netherlands data center revealed (Agriport A7, Middenmeer). Data Center Dynamics, 2018. link ↗
  4. [86] Data center requirements under the new German Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG). White & Case, 2023. link ↗
  5. [84] Chili peppers and ginger grown with waste heat recovered from data centers. Göteborg Energi, 2024. link ↗
  6. [20] A Swedish data centre helping grow vegetables. Sweden.se (Swedish Institute), 2025. link ↗
  7. [1] Project Jupiter Community Benefits Agreement (executed). Doña Ana County / Red Chiles A–D LLC / Yucca Growth Infrastructure LLC, Nov. 12, 2025. link ↗
  8. [30] What you need to know as Doña Ana commissioners set to vote on $165 billion Project Jupiter. El Paso Matters, Sept. 16, 2025. link ↗
  9. [80] Industrial Revenue Bonds: Safeguards. Doña Ana County, Economic Development, accessed Sept. 6, 2026. link ↗
A dismantled plate heat exchanger showing its stack of metal plates
A plate heat exchanger opened up: the stack of plates is where the heat crosses. Photo: RomanM82, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tomato plants growing in a hydroponic greenhouse
A hydroponic tomato greenhouse: the roots sit in warm, recirculating water, which is what the server heat is for. Reference photo, not Santa Teresa. Photo: Giancarlo Dessì, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Condition 3
    Offer the computers' heat to greenhouses next door.
    Heat exchanger installed before the dry coolers; verified by the county engineer at commissioning.
  • Condition 5
    Tie the tax break to real jobs, with a training school on site.
    Verified headcount annually; the PILT schedule follows the count.

Gas

GEOTHERMAL WELLS150 MW, hot rock under the riftWIND + SOLAR ON THE WIRE500 MW contracted, needs new transmissionROOFTOP SOLAR25 MW peak, the small sliceGAS FUEL CELLSrun less each yearDATA HALLSan average hour, where the electricity comes fromgas fuel cells, 2121 MWwind and solar by wire, 200 MW7,547 of 8,760 gas hours, a target, on a public meter
At the targets (150 MW of geothermal, 500 MW of delivered wind and solar, rooftop solar on every hall) about 14% of the year's energy is clean on average: 7,547 of 8,760 full-load hours still run on gas. The meter that matters is the share of gas, falling each year, in public.

Solar on the roofs is real but small, about a quarter of one percent. What moves the number is delivered wind and solar over new transmission, and geothermal, which this county has at depth. The honest measure is a public meter showing the share of energy from gas falling over time, as a target. Even at the most optimistic settings, about half the energy is still gas for years.

Sources (6)
Sources
  1. [63] Largest wind farm in the United States slated to begin commercial operations (SunZia, 3,650 MW, New Mexico). U.S. Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy, 2026. link ↗
  2. [59] Geothermal low-temperature reservoir assessment in northern Doña Ana County, New Mexico (NMERDI final report). New Mexico Energy Research and Development Institute / OSTI, 1985. link ↗
  3. [61] Fervo Energy breaks ground on the world's largest next-gen geothermal project; Cape Station 100 MW in 2026, 500 MW by 2028. Fervo Energy / Utility Dive / Canary Media, 2024–2026. link ↗
  4. [88] Geothermal resources of the southern Rio Grande rift, Doña Ana County (abstract). Geological Society of America, 2011 Annual Meeting, 2011. link ↗
  5. [78] NMSA 1978 § 62-17-12, Microgrid net-zero carbon resource requirement (HB93). New Mexico Statutes (Justia), 2025. link ↗
  6. [2] Project Jupiter — Building Responsibly (presentation to the Board of County Commissioners). Oracle / STACK Infrastructure, presented to Doña Ana County, July 28, 2026. link ↗
The Lightning Dock geothermal power plant in Hidalgo County, New Mexico
Lightning Dock, Hidalgo County: New Mexico's working geothermal plant, about 11 MW net, on the same rift heat this county sits on. Photo: Bureau of Land Management, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Wind turbines at the El Cabo wind farm in Torrance County, New Mexico
El Cabo wind farm, Torrance County. SunZia, commissioned in 2026, is fourteen times this size; its line runs west to Arizona. Photo: Office of Rep. Deb Haaland, public domain.

No standalone condition; the gas-share meter is part of Condition 2's public data.

What it costs, and when

Capture and its pipeline and wells, the heat exchanger, the water plant, solar and the institute add about $3.4-3.9 billion of developer capital plus $640 million in payments over 30 years. Against the $50 billion the companies committed for the first five years, that's about 8%. The federal capture credit, $85 a ton for 12 years, could repay most of the capture line. Growers bring their own $470 million.

Sources (4)
Sources
  1. [1] Project Jupiter Community Benefits Agreement (executed). Doña Ana County / Red Chiles A–D LLC / Yucca Growth Infrastructure LLC, Nov. 12, 2025. link ↗
  2. [9] Water Desalination Feasibility Study for Santa Teresa (Dr. Pei Xu, NMSU Civil Engineering). NMSU / New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, report M36 (also presented to the Legislature's Science, Technology & Telecommunications Committee), Oct. 31, 2023. link ↗
  3. [53] Class VI — Wells used for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide. U.S. EPA, accessed Sept. 2026. link ↗
  4. [89] Credit for carbon oxide sequestration (Section 45Q). U.S. Internal Revenue Service, accessed Sept. 6, 2026. link ↗
Developer's share
$3.4-3.9B
plus $640M more in payments over 30 years; the $165B bond cap is a ceiling, not cash
Growers' share
$0.47B
the greenhouse builders pay this themselves
Added to the project
about 8%
of the $50 billion promised for the first five years, most of it repaid by the federal capture credit
Every cost line, with its basisopen
ItemCostShare of the $50B first phaseWho paysBasis
Carbon-capture on 2,462 MW of fuel cells (2,275 stacks, manifolded by cluster)$1.5B3.00%0.91% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)Developer (Oracle / STACK / BorderPlex)Projection Order-of-magnitude estimate for concentrated-stream capture; exhaust is ~95% CO₂ per NMED [3]. Includes compression but not the extra fuel cells the capture energy needs: about 120 to 370 MW more (5 to 15% of output), which is more gas and more CO₂ that must itself be captured. No vendor quote exists; no plant of this kind operates anywhere yet.
CO₂ pipeline to permitted storage in Texas, injection wells, storage operations and 50-year post-injection care$1.5-2Babout 3.50%about 1.06% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)DeveloperUnknown New Mexico has no permitted Class VI well; the nearest permitted storage is in the Texas Permian (about 200 miles). Estimate. The federal 45Q credit pays $85 a ton stored or used for 12 years, which at 7.9 million tons a year would repay most of the capture and transport cost if construction starts before 2033.
Higher payments in lieu of taxes (the "$1 billion for schools" ask)+$640M over 30 years1.28%0.39% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)DeveloperProjection A payment, not capital: about $33M a year instead of $12M, paid as verified jobs and metered emissions targets are met. Listed here so the full ask is visible. (A payment stream, not capital.)
NMSU-designed 5 MGD desalination system$269.5M0.54%0.16% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)Developer, delivered to CRRUA / countyVerified estimate 2023 NMSU figure for the whole system: wells, plant, storage, brine injection wells, lines [9]. The CBA has the companies pay the county $250,000 toward a desalination study [1]; the county is now designing a 4 MGD plant of its own.
Plate heat exchanger, pumps, insulated header to greenhouses$60M0.12%0.04% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)DeveloperProjection Standard district-heating hardware. Paid back by heat sold to growers, not by fan savings, which are a few percent of the heat moved.
~150 acres of glass greenhouses (proposed)$450M0.90%0.27% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)Commercial growers (leaseholders)Projection About $3M per acre for high-tech Venlo glass, industry average. Off the developer's balance sheet. Acreage depends on the unpublished site plan.
Roof and canopy solar (~25-35 MW peak)$45M0.09%0.03% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)DeveloperVerified estimate Scaled from the reported 3 million sq ft of halls [33]. Runs the community side of the campus.
NMSU / DACC institute endowment$50M0.10%0.03% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)DeveloperProjection On top of the CBA's Exhibit B payments, which total $11.4M including $4.5M of building-permit fee offsets [1].
Packing house, produce road, public gate$25M0.05%0.02% of the $165B cap (a ceiling, not cash)Growers and developerProjection Keeps farm trucks off the secure entrance.

The years

Tap a year to trace the line up to it.

Every number on this page traces to a document. All sources

Act on the record

A petition has no force here. Two things do: a written comment on the permit record, and three minutes at the commission microphone. Here is how to do both.

  1. Write a comment on Permit 10883

    The record is open; the permit is being reissued. This is what to say, in six lines. Copy it, add your name and town, and file it on NMED's comment page.

    1. Catch the CO₂ at the stack before power-on.
    2. Every stack on a public meter, with limits set for the capture configuration.
    3. Offer the computers' heat to greenhouses next door.
    4. Fund the NMSU water plant, hand it to the towns' utility, recharge the towns' reclaimed water, and leave the unused farm water right in the aquifer.
    5. Tie the tax break to real jobs, with a training school on site.
    6. A closure and monitoring bond, so the land and wells are cared for after the lease ends.

  2. Speak at the commission

    The Board of County Commissioners meets at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month in the Commission Chambers, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces, NM 88007. Public comment is three minutes per person.

    Public comment is three minutes. This fits in two.

    1. My name is ____ and I live in ____. I do not want Project Jupiter as it is filed. I want it only if it is upgraded: no conditions in the lease, no data center. Here is what to write in.
    2. Their draft permit allows 8.8 million tons of carbon a year, more than Albuquerque and Las Cruces combined, for 750 binding jobs, with smog estimated from one small test unit and never measured.
    3. The exhaust from their fuel cells is about 95% CO₂ once dried. Bloom has announced capture for it and the federal credit pays $85 a ton. Require capture-ready stacks and a meter before power-on.
    4. Their servers make hot water. In Sweden and the Netherlands that heat grows food. Require them to offer it to growers on the 150 empty acres beside the dry coolers. That is 1,000 more jobs.
    5. NMSU already designed a 5 million gallon a day desalination plant for Santa Teresa. It costs $269.5 million, 0.16% of their bond. Make them fund it.
    6. Same land. Same buildings. About 8% more on the $50 billion first phase, most of it repayable by the federal capture credit. Negotiate the conditions into the leases at the next consent the companies need.

  3. Call your commissioner

    Five commissioners hold the lease. The email opens with the script already written; change anything you like.

That's everything I know. Thank you for reading all of it.