Largest proposed data center in Arizona to be scaled back 80% after opposition

What was slated as the largest data center project in Arizona will be reduced by roughly 80%, following a wave of opposition from Pinal County residents.

Vermaland’s La Osa data center and energy campus planned near Eloy would have covered 3,300 acres, and included 59 data centers, two on-site natural gas facilities and a utility-scale battery energy storage system.

During a well-attended public hearing on its application to rezone and begin site planning on Pinal County land, La Osa’s attorney Court Rich said “the owner wanted me to come here today and let you all know that he wants to make this project smaller.”

He asked for a continuance on the requests so that the developer can submit more specific details.

According to Rich, the project will be reduced to 11 data centers and limited to 1 gigawatt of energy demand.

One gigawatt is equal to 1 million kilowatts. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average home uses around 10,791 kilowatt-hours in an entire year or around 1.25 kilowatts continuously — making one gigawatt of energy demand equivalent to the draw of more than 750,000 homes.

Supervisor Rich Vitiello asked about differing construction timelines for the data centers and expected energy facilities.

“The gas power plant most likely sounds like it’s going to go last, and I’m hearing that it takes roughly five to seven years, that’s a concern,” he said. “I’m worried about the constituents in that area, about the power bills going up, even though you’re saying that they’re going to pay for it."

The Pinal County Board of Supervisors heard around 60 comments and fielded 50 emails, all in opposition of the project.

One speaker, Vivek Bharathan, drove all the way from Tucson to share his concerns.

“I come with a cautionary tale from your neighbors to the south,” he said. “Last summer our Pima County Board of Supervisors sold county land to a data center developer in a 3-2 vote."

"They did so over the wishes of dozens of constituents who urged them to vote no, warning of the dangers of hyperscale data centers and that they weren’t prepared to make an informed decision that day,” Bharathan said.

He claimed a lack of stipulations in Project Blue’s application with the county contributed to its unlawful use of Tucson’s water earlier this month. 

After some back and forth on how long the extension should be, the board decided to revisit Vermaland’s application in another public hearing on August 26. Supervisor Vitiello abstained, citing insufficient time to address public concerns.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to clarify the energy demand of an average U.S. home in comparison to the reduced demand of the data center.