Doña Ana County

Oracle / Stargate · Santa Teresa, New Mexico

Water — consumed, not returned

Taken from the basin2,875M gal/yr

Evaporated on site137M gal

Making the power2,738M gal

Basin stressExtremely High

Where the water comes from: Closed loop — negligible draw
Cooling: Air-cooled closed loop, chosen for the desert siting
Basis: Modelled from cooling design — WUE 0.06 L/kWh

Air — what the stacks emit

Nitrogen oxides1,296t/yr

Sulphur dioxide950t/yr

Fine particulates147t PM2.5

Health damages$131M/yr

Where it burns: WECC Southwest — Ariz. / N.M.
Generation mix: Gas 46 · Nuclear 22 · Solar 14 · Coal 12
CO₂e: 3,213 kt/yr — climate, not air quality

Who wanted it

Who asked for it: OpenAI — via Oracle; Project Jupiter developed with Borderplex
Who approved it: Doña Ana County industrial revenue bonds approved 2025; El Paso Electric supply; New Mexico groundwater permitting under the State Engineer
What it serves: OpenAI compute under Stargate
IT capacity: 0 MW running of 1,000 MW announced

Sited in the Mesilla basin, where groundwater is adjudicated and contested across the Texas–New Mexico line. The design is air-cooled specifically because water rights here are effectively unavailable.

water-stressed basinorganised local opposition

Where it is

32.0300°, -106.6500°

Google Maps Satellite See it on the map

Water and air figures are modelled from disclosed capacity, not measured — site-level error is roughly ±40%. Diesel backup generators are not counted, so on-site figures are floors. Full method.