Oracle Switches to Bloom Energy Fuel Cells for New Mexico AI Data Center

In March, a New Mexico state court struck down the county's request to dismiss the initial suit. Kacey Hovden, a staff attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said the community concerns have been voiced for almost a year. "They say they're responding to community concerns, but these have been things that have been voiced now for almost a year," Hovden said.

She added that NMELC has the same concerns about Bloom Energy's fuel cell technology as it had about the natural gas plant. New permit applications for the fuel cells were filed with NMED last month. Project Jupiter's fuel cells will use natural gas, according to those applications.

Bloom Energy contends that its technology helps reduce emissions from natural gas use. 8 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 2 million homes according to the Department of Energy. This is Bloom Energy's biggest data center partnership to date.

In 2024, Bloom announced an 80 megawatt project in South Korea. Patrick Hughes, senior vice president of industry affairs at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, said data centers that want to build their own power plants face a litany of constraints.

"You have to balance supply chain concerns and availability, the cost, the speed at which you can get the permits and build it," he said.

Hughes called the pace of data center construction "unprecedented" and likened the AI race and power scramble to the Wild West. Insider reported that community activists aren't yet convinced of the site's new energy plan. Data centers are facing rising opposition from local communities across the country over issues including rising power bills, noise pollution and the use of local resources.