OPINION: To save the ETA, the Legislature needs to pass the Microgrid Oversight Act

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham needs to immediately add Las Cruces Democratic Sen. Jeff Steinborn's Microgrid Oversight Act to her call list for this 30-day legislative session. In 2025 the Legislature passed HB 93, the Microgrid Bill. At last minute, a loophole was added to HB 93 which excluded microgrids from the Energy Transition Act (ETA). This amendment effectively destroys the ETA which is one of the governor’s prime accomplishments. The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque. In a New York Times article in December by David Siegel, Padilla indicated he was proud of what he did, “we have four or five major data center projects now looking at the state as a result of what we did,” he said.

Steven Fischman, a former chair of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, an independent state agency that regulates public utilities said, “The amendment effectively eviscerates the Energy Transition Act." Microgrids are already being planned for other data centers in New Mexico enough to generate more power than the state currently uses. Once a little more than half the electricity generated here is exempt from the ETA, “Mr. Fischman said, “the ETA is essentially meaningless.”

Joshua Bowling, writing for Source NM, detailed the impact of Project Jupiter.

“Applications for air quality permits confirm figures that Source New Mexico previously reported: if approved, Project Jupiter will emit more than 14 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. By comparison, Albuquerque and Las Cruces emissions combined total of 6.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually. The applications say developers seek to install 45 turbines to annually generate as much electricity as (Public Service Company of New Mexico). The developers filed two applications, one for a west microgrid and one for an east microgrid. A microgrid is a self-reliant energy grid that doesn't need to draw power from a larger utility. Plans have made it clear that developers want to build natural gas generating stations for project Jupiter’s microgrids, prompting concerns that the data centers won't comply with the state's landmark clean energy law which requires utilities to use 50% renewables by 2040 and 100% by 2045.

Environmental advocates say the developer’s proposal to split emissions across two permits for the same project appears to skirt the state's regulations, which classify projects with at least 250 tons per year of nitrogen oxide as major sources and subject them to arduous monitoring. “They've split it into two separate plants that are minor sources to avoid having to monitor their actual air quality impacts which are going to be huge,” said Colin Cox, senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity Climate Law Institute. “They're coming to 99.9% of the threshold when they have to do additional work.”

The New Mexico Environment Department originally said the developer can use permitting authority to treat grouped microgrids like project operators’ east and west grids as a single source. This would force the project to undergo more stringent federal monitoring, effectively making natural gas generation prohibitively expensive or technically infeasible. On Dec. 17, there was a shift in tone. NMED challenged the developer’s math. They determined that an emission cap set so close to the threshold was not practically enforceable. On Jan.16, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center requested that NMED extend the comment period for more transparency on Project Jupiter.

People throughout the county are fighting data centers due to the pollution they create and their extraordinary water and electric use. They create few benefits for the average household. New Mexico is a poor state. Santa Ana is a poor county. We are being targeted. We may not be able to stop them, but we must regulate them.

The governor must place Steinborn’s Microgrid Oversight Act on her call list and the Legislature must pass this critical bill. Email the Governor at constituentservices@exec.nm.gov immediately and contact your legislators. Time is running out.

Judith Polich is a retired attorney, a New Mexico resident, and a climate change journalist. She can be reached at judith.polich@gmail.com.