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Oracle must keep paying New Mexico data-center investors even if the site has no power

September 24, 2026 at 20:00 EDT

Infra & Chips
Finance

Oracle remains obliged to pay investors in its New Mexico data center even if the campus has no electricity when the first phase is due to open. The company has sent a force majeure notice over power delays, but people familiar with the contract say that notice does not let Oracle abandon the project or shift the power risk onto its backers.

24 SEP 2026 · PROJECT JUPITER

Oracle still pays if the campus has no power

On the New Mexico site built for OpenAI, a force majeure notice can delay rent. It does not cancel the lease, and the power risk stays with Oracle.

CAPITAL STACK

About six times as much debt as equity

Each block is about $3 billion. Oracle is responsible for the debt cost.

$18bn

Bank construction debt

~$3bn

Blue Owl equity

Takeaway: lenders financed the build; Oracle, not those investors, carries the risk that the site has no electricity.

3 yrs

Maximum carry cost in place of rent

+2.5

Percentage points over SOFR on the loan

<90¢

Where the $18bn loans were quoted

2.45 GW

Design load, about 1.8 million homes

WHAT THE NOTICE DOES

Delay the rent clock. Do not tear up the lease.

Power permits and the gas pipeline slip

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Oracle sends a force majeure notice

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Carry cost replaces rent for up to 3 years

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Debt interest and an equity return still get paid

WHAT THE PARTIES SAY

Oracle says the campus is still on its planned schedule. Blue Owl says the multiyear financial commitments are unchanged, and the notice is not a default.

WHERE THE STRAIN IS

The lease cannot be terminated. Loans are under 90 cents and syndication has stalled, so banks still hold debt they hoped to sell.

THE ALLOCATION

The power delivery risk sits with Oracle, not the investors.

During construction Blue Owl's yield is about 9 percent. After completion the expected levered yield is about 11 percent, and the higher rent still runs for the original term — it just starts later.

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