OpenAI Stargate New Mexico · Doña Ana County, NM
Last change recorded 2026-10-05 · Last checked 2026-10-04
Latest: Emergency authorization to draw from the new well stands after the Supreme Court lifted its stay; permanent water rights still contested · Water supply secured · 2026-09-17 · recorded 2026-10-05
Project Jupiter, Santa Teresa (Doña Ana County): Oracle/OpenAI campus developed by STACK Infrastructure with a Bloom fuel-cell microgrid (up to 2.45 GW) replacing the earlier gas turbines. Air permit: NMED hearing was moved to September, then stayed by the New Mexico Supreme Court on 2026-08-23 (together with the emergency well authorization); the stay was lifted on 2026-09-17 and the hearing re-set for 2026-10-19 with comments due 2026-10-23. In September 2026 Oracle issued a force majeure notice to the developer over schedule risk (gas pipeline in-service pushed from August 2026 to February 2027, air permit pending) while stating publicly that the project remains on schedule and reaffirming the 2.4 GW Bloom contract. · source ◐ secondary, confidence medium
Recorded readiness — 3 of 5 applicable milestones have a dated public record
Gate to first power — target 2026-12-31 (announced) · path: On-site generation · each step must finish its lead time before the target
3 of 4 required steps have a public date. Red = recorded date past the rule-based deadline · grey "no public date" = required step without a record · green = on record in time · context steps never colour.
| Step | Must finish by | Others did it | Known date | Status | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site secured (context) | 2025-09-28 (15 mo before) | 13 mo before (n=26) | 2025-09-01 | context | Construction begins · ◐ | |
| Permits in hand | 2026-12-28 (0 mo before) | 4 mo after (n=8) | 2026-01-15 | on record in time | Air permit application filed for gas turbines and diesel (January 2026) · ◐ | |
| New generation online | 2026-11-28 (1 mo before) | 12 mo after (n=1) | 2026-12-31 plan | plan inside the deadline | Fuel-cell microgrid first block (announced initial operations) · ◐ | |
| Major equipment on site | 2026-06-28 (6 mo before) | 9 mo after (n=1) | 2027-02-28 plan | plan 8 mo past the deadline | Natural-gas pipeline feeding the microgrid in service (delayed from August 2026 per reporting on Oracle's force majeure notice) · ◐ | |
| Building ready for IT | 2026-12-28 (0 mo before) | 2 mo after (n=7) | no public date | no public date · would need to be done by 2026-12-28 | No date on record | |
| Full build-out complete (context) | 2027-12-28 (-12 mo before) | — | 2028-12-31 plan | context | Estimated completion (Epoch) · ◐ | |
| Water supply secured (context) | 2025-12-28 (12 mo before) | — | 2026-09-17 | context | Emergency authorization to draw from the new well stands after the Supreme Court lifted its stay; permanent water rights still contested · ◐ |
Lead-time assumptions
- Site secured 15 months before first power — Land under control and campus announced. Rarely binding; shown for context.
- Permits in hand 0 months before first power — Final air and siting permits. Operators often energize on standard or temporary authorisations and receive the major permit later; flagged only when the permit lands more than 6 months after first power or is missing for an on-site plant.
- Grid supply agreed 9 months before first power — Interconnection or large-load agreement approved. Observed median 7 months before first power; the physical works (substation, lines) run in parallel with construction.
- Substation and lines energized 2 months before first power — Utility delivery point live; final tests before the load is taken.
- New generation online 1 months before first power — Utility plant or on-site plant generating; needed just before energization when the grid cannot carry the load alone.
- Major equipment on site 6 months before first power — Turbines, transformers, switchgear delivered; installation and commissioning take the remaining months.
- Construction started 24 months before first power — Groundbreaking of the building that gives first power. Observed 4-26 months for recent AI campuses; Meta's redesigned campuses took 35-58.
- Building ready for IT 0 months before first power — First building ready for IT. 'Complete' or 'opened' is usually reported after first power; flagged only beyond 3 months.
- Full build-out complete -12 months before first power — All announced buildings operational. Comes after first power by design; context only.
- Water supply secured 12 months before first power — Water rights, municipal agreement or desalination contract in hand. Context only; one of the feasibility items.
- Financing closed 12 months before first power — Project financing, anchor lease or committed capital announced. Context only; not applicable when the owner is a hyperscaler building on its balance sheet.
Dated steps (from the sources; later dates are plans)
Power equipment (from permits, filings and reporting; blank cells were not disclosed)
| Category | Make / model | Units | MW | Status | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fuel cell | Bloom Energy solid-oxide fuel cell | — | 2.5 GW | permit pending | 2026-10-19 | Up to 2.45 GW fuel-cell microgrid replacing gas turbines and diesel; construction permit not yet issued; NMED hearing 2026-10-19. September 2026: Oracle sent the developer a force majeure notice over schedule risk (gas pipeline in-service pushed to February 2027, air permit pending) while reaffirming the 2.4 GW Bloom contract · ○ |
Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)
Recorded fact major equipment on site has a recorded date later than the rule-based deadline for a 2026-12-31 first power.
Calculated requirement Major equipment on site must finish by 2026-06-28; the recorded plan is 2027-02-28 (8 mo past the deadline). Under the current rule set the recorded dates plus their lead times give a first power no earlier than 2027-08-28 (8 mo after the announced target). This is a floor set by the record, not a forecast.
Sources (Epoch AI selection): Project Jupiter Website · Stormwater Permitting · Oracle, BorderPlex and Bloom Energy to power Project Jupiter with fuel cell technology (Apr 27, 2026)
Epoch AI, 'AI data centers', epoch.ai/data/ai-data-centers (CC BY 4.0); coordinates from GeoNames cities500 (CC BY 4.0) and hand-entered places; overrides in tools/project_overrides.csv with their own sources. Campuses outside the Epoch dataset come from tools/campuses.csv (public reporting, source per row). Data retrieved 2026-10-05. Report a correction to contact@ailoadmap.com (campus id openai-stargate-new-mexico; include the row and a source link).