| ▲ | chasil 3 hours ago | |
This previous [flagged] post implies that a natural gas line blocked by regulatory action is holding an Oracle data center offline: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49978367 I understand that trucking the natural gas into the generation plant is one workaround. "For this whole layered scheme [of Project Jupiter] to work, the campus needs as much power as a major city — think Los Angeles. Hooking into the existing grid turned out to be a problem. The workaround: generate power on site with fuel cells running on natural gas. ”The gas is supposed to come through a new pipeline spur that still has to be built. Most of the route crosses federal land, but about half a mile runs across state land. And that’s exactly where everything got stuck: on March 31, 2026, the New Mexico State Land Office denied the right-of-way, and on July 16 it rejected the second application. The pipeline, originally due to go online in August 2026, has been pushed back to February 2027. ”On top of that, the air permit for the entire power system still hasn’t been issued: the state Environment Department’s decision isn’t expected before November 23. ”Meanwhile, local opposition keeps gaining ground — as does the nationwide movement against hyperscale data centers." | ||