The names of the lobbyists for Project Jupiter — the massive data center in Santa Teresa designed to support artificial intelligence infrastructure for companies like Oracle and OpenAI — were released in a Monday email from lobbyist Marco Gonzales to state lawmakers on the Legislative Finance Committee obtained by The New Mexican.
Some names might sound familiar, and some have been the subject of complaints in the past.
Scott Forrester, a veteran New Mexico Democratic consultant and former executive director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, is listed as a lobbyist for Bloom Energy, the company that will provide the fuel cells to power Project Jupiter.
Forrester worked for Hillary Clinton and now-Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland. He was accused in September 2025 of offering to pay a rival candidate’s campaign debt if she dropped her ballot appeal, although he was later cleared of wrongdoing.
Vanessa Alarid, an Albuquerque lobbyist, is married to state Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas; her donation to a county commissioner who appointed Maestas the Senate became the subject of an ethics complaint in December 2022. She is registered with Yucca Growth Infrastructure — the applicant for the site’s air quality permit — along with Jennifer Bradfute, who serves as legal representation for the organization in its air quality permit fight. Bradfute also represents the Water Access Treatment and Reuse Alliance — or WATR Alliance — a group that requested new rules to allow the discharge and reuse of treated produced water into New Mexico waterways.
Marcos Gonzales, a Democrat who ran for Bernalillo County Commission, is the registered lobbyist for developer STACK Infrastructure, while Brent Moore, a longtime Santa Fe lobbyist and attorney, is also registered with Bloom.
Also lobbying for Project Jupiter developers are Rich Guay for Oracle and Jessie Lane Hunt for OpenAI. Hunt’s firm ran Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s 2017 campaign, which was found to have improperly reported donations paid to her firm.
“While it’s not surprising to see the New Mexico contract lobbyists in the orbit of Project Jupiter, it certainly is revealing,” Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena, D-Mesilla, wrote in an email to The New Mexican. “These names are a who’s-who of power brokers in New Mexico — from a former Executive Director of the state Democratic Party to a family of lobbyists married to legislators. It’s important that we all see who is being paid to advance the interests of Project Jupiter.”
Julia Gentin is a reporter for The Las Cruces New Mexican, The Santa Fe New Mexican and Searchlight New Mexico through a partnership with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. She covers the Southern New Mexico region. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.
