Delivering data center redesign plans to the public in New Mexico
In June 2026, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure announced a redesign of Project Jupiter in response to community concerns and described the changes in the Santa Fe New Mexican, a newspaper reaching residents of Dona Ana County where the facility is sited. STACK Infrastructure is the developer.
Since local opposition is de facto for this case and explicitly led to a redesign, it’s a good example to evaluate for strength of public relations strategy. Some of my quick takes:
What Oracle got right
Recognition of common questions from residents, particularly: “Your story has changed, and so how can we believe that anything you say is true”
Jargon-free descriptions of key technologies, e.g. fuel-cell technology
Acknowledgment that the changes are not “overnight”
Tone that’s conversational and approachable
Ways to improve
The robot voice transcription is counterproductive. To replace it, Oracle should offer to the newspaper a voice recording of the text from the author, Julia Robin, head of infrastructure planning and sourcing. The automated voice exacerbates fears about the AI systems that the data center supports, which is a driver of community opposition. A strong PR team would think not only about sending a text to the newspaper but how the text will be perceived by the eyes and ears of the audience.
Most folks know that measurable in theory does not equal measured in fact. Oracle should rephrase the assertion that the redesign “give[s] residents clear, measurable commitments.” This announcement outlines possibilities for nudging impacts in certain directions (lower emissions, reduced operational water demand, greater flexibility to adopt lower-carbon energy options in the future). But it’s false to imply that these are commitments that the community itself can measure, or that Oracle will be offering metrics in real time for residents to observe.
I welcome conversations with PR professionals and infrastructure companies about the future of public relations for data center projects.
July 1, 2026
Photo by Ethan Wright-Magoon on Unsplash
