Arizona city defeats massive data center project over water, energy concerns

A massive data center that was slated for southern Arizona may be no more after a city council vote on Wednesday unanimously directed all staff to stop work.

Dubbed “Project Blue,” the data center was supposed to be built on 290 acres in Pima County. The county’s board of supervisors approved selling the land north of the Pima County Fairgrounds for the center, but the project still required the city of Tucson’s approval of a development agreement and annexation of the land, local KOLD reported. 

Dozens of people filled the city’s council chambers in opposition to the project, which had been proposed by Beale Infrastructure, citing utility usage.

“In addition to the water use, this was a problem because of the energy use,” councilmember Kevin Dahl said during the meeting, according to KOLD.  

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Local reports say the data center was tied to tech giant Amazon.

“AWS has previously engaged in standard due diligence processes in Arizona, like we do in any geographic location we consider building and operating our infrastructure,” an Amazon Web Services spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business. 

“We do not have any commitments or agreements in place to develop this project and will continue to assess all potential geographic regions to ensure our data center developments provide the best possible product and value for our customers, while bringing positive benefits to the local communities where we operate,” the statement concluded. 

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Beale Infrastructure called the council vote “a missed opportunity for the City,” in a statement provided to FOX Business. 

“Data centers are the backbone of the modern economy and are required to serve municipalities throughout the U.S.,” it continued. “We would like to thank our supporters in the community. We look forward to sharing our future plans.”

The company – which “partners with the world’s leading technology companies to develop data centers and infrastructure that supports national economic growth,” according to its website – told AZ Luminaria that its proposal was compatible with the city’s climate goals. 

Project Blue would have generated $250 million in tax revenue, created 3,000 temporary construction jobs and provided 180 permanent positions with an average salary of $64,000 per year, Beale Infrastructure claims, according to the Tucson Sentinel. Still, residents and the council were not swayed. The Sentinel reported that officials’ findings included that the finished project would demand more water than four golf courses, as well as a tremendous amount of power.

“Project Blue represents a lot of things to a lot of people right now, more than just the data center and the project itself,” councilmember Nikki Lee said, according to the Sentinel. 

“It’s a distrust in government. It’s a distrust in corporations. It’s a very large distrust in tech companies, a distrust in technology and privacy in general, and a fear of artificial intelligence and how fast things are moving and how little control we have,” she said.