Federal regulatory staff this week filed a protest to a proposed pipeline to fuel the Project Jupiter data center in southern New Mexico, likely delaying its construction.
In a Jan. 29 application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Dallas-based developer Energy Transfer — which owns Transwestern Pipeline Company — sought expedited approval for a 17-mile pipeline crossing federal, private and state trust lands. The $60-million “Green Chile Project” would pipe 400,000 dekatherms of gas from El Paso daily to the private power plants fueling the proposed data center Project Jupiter. In federal filings, the Texas company requested approval for construction to start on April 15 in order to complete the project by August.
The project already faced potential roadblocks when the New Mexico State Land Office denied the rights for construction on state trust land. Several New Mexico environmental groups this week also filed a formal challenge with the FERC.
The April 13 FERC staff protest, signed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Acting Secretary Debbie-Anne Reese, noted that the developers’ application was incomplete.
Specifically, the company failed to provide confirmation from the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office that no “historic properties” would be affected, documentation required under FERC’s regulations and the National Historic Preservation Act.
“Without this documentation, the environmental concerns cannot be adequately addressed before the end of the protest period,” the document reads.
The New Mexico Historic Preservation Division received a request to review the project on April 14, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Director of Communications and Marketing Daniel Zillmann told Source NM Friday. The state office has 30 days to review project submissions for any historical sites, he said.
Celeste Miller, acting director for media relations at FERC, said in a statement provided to Source NM that if Transwestern Pipeline Company cannot resolve the issues raised in the protests within 30 days, the project will not be eligible for the expedited “blanket certificate.”
Instead, she said, it would have to undergo the process for a “project-specific certificate,” which according to FERC rules, requires more detailed flings and public notice to receive approval.
Energy Transfer Vice President for Corporate Communications Vicki Granado did not provide responses to Source NM’s written questions about how the FERC agency protest would impact the timeline, telling Source NM in a statement that, “we continue to work with FERC so all necessary requirements are met as we move through this process.”
In addition to the protest filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and Food & Water Watch, another group representing Doña Ana residents sought to intervene on the project: Hold the Line Campaign, which organizes against several proposed oil and gas pipelines in New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana. Jon Copeland, a community organizer in El Paso for the group, told Source NM that FERC’s staff protest was “nearly unheard of.”
“FERC’s protest is a first step, but it’s not justice,” Copeland told Source NM in a call. “We need real accountability for the people and the land this pipeline will destroy.”
