CDN NEWS | 
US NEWS 
By Julian Hast
A proposed natural gas pipeline to power a massive Oracle Corp. artificial intelligence data center has been rerouted after a previous plan was rejected by New Mexico regulators.
Energy Transfer LP, which would construct and operate the pipeline, is now seeking to build part of the 17.8-mile conduit on land administered by the US Bureau of Land Management.
The alternative route avoids land administered by the New Mexico State Land Office, which has twice rejected the pipeline’s right-of-way application, Energy Transfer subsidiary Transwestern said in an Aug. 17 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The data center, known as Project Jupiter and which would serve OpenAI from a campus in Doña Ana County near the US-Mexico border, has become a symbol of the growing pushback faced by hyperscalers across several states as they race to build huge infrastructure.
The Oracle data center is among the largest projects of its kind and envisages 2.5 gigawatts of natural gas powered fuel cells and a total investment of up to $165 billion. It has attracted protests largely focused on its potential environmental impact.
In its most recent rejection, the New Mexico State Land Office said last month that the lease sought by Energy Transfer would not be “in the best interests” of the state. Transwestern has now pushed its original in-service date for the pipeline — known as Green Chile — out to Feb. 1 from Aug. 15 previously. Oracle said last week that Project Jupiter remains on schedule.
Energy Transfer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Share This:
