Home Care In Organ, NM

Two unanimous orders pause an air-quality permitting case and use of water from a new well for construction while the justices consider separate legal challenges

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

LAS CRUCES - The New Mexico Supreme Court has temporarily halted two state actions tied to Project Jupiter, staying an air-quality permitting proceeding and an emergency authorization allowing water from a new well to be used for construction of the massive data center project in Doña Ana County.

The court issued separate unanimous orders Sunday night in cases brought by New Energy Economy and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Both stays remain in effect until further order of the court. Responses in both cases are due by Sept. 2.

The orders do not decide the merits of either legal challenge.

In the air case, New Energy Economy v. New Mexico Environment Department, the Supreme Court granted an emergency request to stay the underlying administrative proceeding involving Yucca Growth Infrastructure LLC’s application for Air Quality Permit No. 10883.

The proceeding concerns the air permit sought for Project Jupiter’s microgrid.

A hearing had been scheduled to begin Sept. 14.

New Energy Economy asked the Supreme Court to intervene less than a month before the hearing, arguing that the expedited schedule did not provide opponents enough time to investigate technical evidence and prepare their case.

The Supreme Court’s Aug. 23 order does not address those arguments. It simply grants the requested stay while the court considers New Energy Economy’s petition for a writ of mandamus.

Chief Justice Julie J. Vargas and Justices Michael E. Vigil, C. Shannon Bacon, David K. Thomson and Briana H. Zamora all concurred.

The court ordered that a response may be filed by Sept. 2. No reply may be filed unless the court orders one.

A second order issued minutes later pauses an October 2025 emergency drilling authorization allowing water from a new well to be used for Project Jupiter construction.

That case, Center for Biological Diversity v. Elizabeth Anderson, names State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson as the respondent and Santa Teresa Capital LLC as the real party in interest.

The Supreme Court granted the Center for Biological Diversity’s request to stay the Oct. 23, 2025 authorization “permitting the use of water from a new well for the construction of Project Jupiter.”

That authorization is now stayed until further order of the court.

The justices again set a Sept. 2 deadline for a response and prohibited a reply unless specifically ordered.

All five justices concurred in that order as well.

The water order is narrowly written. It stays the emergency drilling authorization and the use of water from that new well for construction. It does not, on its face, order all Project Jupiter construction to stop or suspend every water-related approval associated with the development.

Likewise, the air order pauses the administrative permitting proceeding rather than issuing a final decision on Yucca Growth Infrastructure’s application.

Organ Mountain News provides independent reporting for southern New Mexico without a paywall. If you value this work, please consider supporting the newsroom with a one-time or monthly contribution.

Support Organ Mountain News

The orders place two separate Project Jupiter regulatory disputes before the state’s highest court at the same time.

The air case centers on the Environment Department proceeding over the project’s proposed microgrid, while the water case challenges an emergency authorization issued by the Office of the State Engineer.

The air permit application covers a Bloom Energy fuel-cell system proposed to generate electricity for the nearby data center complex.

Project Jupiter has drawn increasing scrutiny over its electricity generation, water demand, environmental permitting and the speed at which the multibillion-dollar development has moved through state and local processes.

Sunday’s orders do not determine whether either challenged state action was lawful.

For now, however, both the air proceeding and the emergency new-well authorization are frozen while the Supreme Court considers what comes next.

is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at or connect with him on X at .

Bloom puts number on Project Jupiter fuel-cell water use, leaves broader demand unanswered — Bloom Energy says the fuel-cell system will need about 167,000 gallons of water a year for maintenance, but several broader water-use questions remain unanswered.

EBID told to expect ‘critically low’ water supply in 2027 — Elephant Butte Irrigation District is already planning for another difficult year as water managers warn supplies could be critically low in 2027.

Union says LCPS created MVLA reapplication plan without required consultation — NEA-Las Cruces says staff at Mesilla Valley Leadership Academy and Rio Grande Preparatory Institute are being required to reapply for their jobs under a plan developed before union consultation.

There is a great deal to unpack in Week 2 of the prep football season, so let’s get to it.

ORGAN MOUNTAIN-MAYFIELD: Many of you probably have already seen the video: a small, first-half skirmish between two players — one from the Knights, one from the Trojans — exploded into a disturbing scene in which at least two dozen Mayfield players left the sideline to run onto the field.

I spoke to Michelle Ronga, the Las Cruces district athletic director, who attended the game Friday night at the Field of Dreams.

Here you go. Keep an eye on the sidelines. I think everybody that was tossed was pretty much for leaving the sideline. Maybe the skirmish participant(s) were ejected, I’m not sure on that aspect. pic.twitter.com/aZ4O9ZH9wv

— Jeff Matthews (@jeffmatthews22) August 29, 2026

This is what I was told:

The New Mexico Activities Association is going to review the film of this incident no later than Monday.

As of Saturday, Ronga said, there were only two confirmed player ejections that she knew of.

Ronga also said that it was the game officials who told the teams, following the skirmish, that they would be allowed to keep 20 players apiece to finish the game. All other players were sent off the field.

Now, having seen just this bit of film myself and having watched it a few times, I would say Mayfield should have some concerns. Players leaving the sideline to run onto the field in such a situation is grounds for ejection, and there were, minimum, about two dozen Trojans who did exactly that.

The Organ Mountain coaches can clearly be seen on film ordering their players on the sideline to remain right where they are, and indeed those Knights players on the sideline are largely just standing there, watching. There likely will be multiple player ejections for Organ Mountain based on the actual incident — there were multiple Knights who were involved in this on the field — but my educated guess would be that the number of OM ejections is going to pale in comparison to Mayfield.

Now, this isn’t even the first major problem we’ve had along these lines already this season.

Nine Socorro players were suspended for a Week 2 game versus Thoreau based on their conduct in the opener against Robertson.

Not only that, but both the Warriors as a team, as well as their fan base, were given Strike Ones by the NMAA under their new policy which is meant to curb unruly behavior by both athletes and fan bases.

The fan base got a strike because, according to Socorro Consolidated Schools, a man and woman left the stands and went onto the field during what is described as an “altercation” between the Warriors and the Cardinals.

Socorro coach Derek Smith was originally ejected, but that was overturned.

Robertson also had multiple players suspended due to this dust-up. Those players had to sit out Week 2’s 28-26 Friday-night loss at Santa Rosa.

ON THE ROAD: It was a tough Friday for both La Cueva and St. Pius, who journeyed outside New Mexico’s borders for a Week 2 game.

The Bears gave up the first 22 points to Palmer Ridge, Colorado, and eventually lost 29-10 in Colorado Springs. (The game was played at the Colorado Rapids soccer facility.)

“I feel like there were a lot of things we did wrong that put us behind the chains,” La Cueva coach Brandon Back said. “We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Dropped passes, missed tackles and red-zone turnovers were all part of the narrative for the Bears (1-1), Back said.

“I thought it was a very good trip,” Back continued. “The best thing we got out of it is we were able to make adjustments.”

Palmer Ridge will return the visit in the 2027 season. La Cueva, Back said, wants to continue to play teams outside New Mexico.

“It’s a great opportunity for our program and the state as a whole,” he said.

St. Pius was in Holtville, California on Friday night, and the Sartans were roughed up in a 66-31 loss.

This game was reasonably close in the early going, with St. Pius trailing 24-18. But Holtville scored the next 20 points and it was never close again. Hershul Olloway Jr. of the Sartans rushed for four touchdowns, including a 65-yarder, and Isaiah Carpenter threw an 80-yard scoring pass to Ezra Ocampo. Olloway finished with 10 carries for 200 yards.

“We felt like our players played really well,” St. Pius coach Curtis Flakes II said Saturday night from Dallas, where the Sartans were getting ready to take a connecting flight back home.

“We believe they could beat 85% of the teams in New Mexico,” Flakes added. “That includes 6A.”

St. Pius is outside the state in Week 3, too, against Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

ODD DOINGS: There were several truly bizarre games out there in Week 2. Valencia beat Grants 6-2(?). St. Michael’s won 3-0 in overtime over Santa Fe to extend its winning streak to 35 games, now second overall in state history. And then there was the crazy 43-43 tie Thursday night between Albuquerque High and Eldorado at Wilson Stadium.

Santa Fe coach Adrian Gonzales called timeout in OT just before his Demons blocked a field-goal attempt by the Horsemen. Why? Because, he said, they hadn’t attempted a kick all night, despite repeated marches into the red zone. So he wanted to ice that kicker.

It backfired. Given a second chance, St. Mike’s kicked a 23-yard field goal — which didn’t get over the crossbar by much – for an extremely rare 3-0 win.

“Damned if you do,” Gonzales said Saturday of his decision, “damned if you don’t.”

The game was scoreless for 48 minutes. (Which got me thinking about a 0-0 tie I once covered, the 1987 Class 3A state final between Artesia and Lovington, a truly weird but memorable afternoon in Lovington. It was that game that eventually led to the decision to abolish ties in championship games.)

“I’ve never been a part of anything like that game,” Gonzales said of a strange Friday night at Santa Fe’s home facility, Ivan Head Stadium.

As for AHS and Eldorado, will a tie impact the late-season playoff chances for either the Bulldogs or Eagles?

“No doubt,” Eldorado coach Charlie Dotson said. “Especially because of the schedule we have.”

“The way I’m looking at it is, we have to win five games regardless,” Bulldogs coach Desmond Anaya said.

Dotson said he would have preferred to wait it out; Anaya said he believed officials probably ended up making the right call to send everyone home.

The 48 minutes of regulation took approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes (without weather delays), which didn’t help. By the end of the first overtime, it was 43-43 but already around 10:45 p.m.

Then a lightning strike delayed things, and it was determined a few minutes after 11 p.m. to simply call this one a tie.

“It was just a good football game,” he said. But he said the decision to leave the venue tied was “controversial.”

One thought: maybe these Thursday games should be scheduled at 6 p.m., or maybe 6:30, in an effort to avoid future complexities.

STARS OF THE WEEK: A reminder, if you want to nominate someone for our Stars of the Week feature – which appears Monday in the AJ – I must have those nominations, with full stats, submitted to me by mid-afternoon Sunday. My contact information appears at the bottom of this column.

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at [email protected] or via X at @JamesDYodice.