A data center planned for a 290-acre stretch of land in Pima County is moving forward — despite being rejected earlier this year.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted in June to approve the land sale for data center Project Blue.
Project Blue would have been cooled using millions of gallons of city water and powered by electricity from Tucson Electric Power, or TEP. Tucson leaders unanimously rejected the plan after public outcry.
Now Beale Infrastructure — the company behind the project — is trying to revive it through a different deal with TEP.
In a letter to county leaders, Beale says an upcoming agreement will allow for a data center in the same 290-acre stretch that will use electricity to cool itself, rather than water, making it a closed-loop system. The company also argues the electricity needed for the project’s initial phase is within the current capacity of TEP’s grid system, in addition to renewable energy projects already under construction — though residents and city leaders have raised questions about that demand.
Beale says the project will generate some $152 million in total tax revenue over 10 years, $58.5 million of which would go to Pima County.
