Oracle's $16.5 billion AI data center is blocked due to environmental issues, and power supply plan adjustments may increase costs by billions of dollars

Comparatively, according to The Information, Project Jupiter, a $16.5 billion AI superpark promoted by Oracle in New Mexico, was blocked by environmental approval and forced to adjust the power supply plan, which is expected to increase the cost by an additional billion dollars. The 1,400-acre park mainly provides computing power for OpenAI, and is designed to have an installed capacity of over 2 gigawatts.

Oracle originally planned to build its own natural gas power plant, but the relevant permits stalled due to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In April of this year, the company switched to Bloom Energy natural gas fuel cells and adjusted the microgrid capacity to 2.45 gigawatts. Analysts estimate that the plan would cost around $8 billion, which is several billion dollars more than the gas turbine plan.

New Mexico vetoed the proposed fuel line again last week, and the state environmental department will hold a public hearing on the air permit on October 19. The local attorney general is also investigating the suspected use of residents' names in project support letters without consent.

Oracle's data center project in Wisconsin also faced additional expenses. Local regulatory rulings may require Oracle, OpenAI, and Vantage Data Centers to bear the costs of transmission line construction alone; another financial guarantee requirement, according to Oracle, will increase costs by about $100 million per year.