Green Chili gas lateral
17-mile gas pipeline branch proposed by Energy Transfer to feed Project Jupiter's behind-the-meter power plant.
Last refreshed: 25 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why does one 17-mile gas lateral hold up a $165bn data-centre campus?
Timeline for Green Chili gas lateral
New Mexico vetoes Jupiter gas pipeline
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashBackground
The Green Chili gas lateral is a proposed 17-mile, 24-inch branch line off a main interstate pipeline, filed by Energy Transfer to feed the behind-the-meter microgrid meant to power Project Jupiter. New Mexico's State Land Commissioner, Stephanie Garcia Richard, rejected the crossing of state trust land for a second time on 15 July, citing an estimated 10.1 million tons a year of greenhouse-gas emissions against roughly $249,000 in foregone lease revenue.
As a lateral rather than a mainline, the project depends entirely on Energy Transfer securing right-of-way across land the commissioner controls outright, which is why her veto binds the route wherever the campus sits. Unlike New York and Oregon, which acted against the data centre or its power tariff, New Mexico's block came through the pipeline permit itself.
The lateral's fate illustrates a wider pattern: land and permitting authorities increasingly separate approval of a data-centre campus from approval of the fuel supply that would actually run it, leaving hyperscale builds with consent to build but no consented power source.
