Tucson Electric Power is trying to get approval to provide power to a data center development in Pima County just weeks after Tucson blocked Project Blue.
Pima County Supervisor Andrés Cano said that TEP and developer Beale Infrastructure are attempting to get around the Tucson City Council vote that blocked the project.
The development faced local uproar over water and energy consumption.
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A resident holds up an anti-Project Blue sign during a community meeting in downtown Tucson on Aug. 4.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Community members holding signs opposing Project Blue filled Tucson City Council chambers during a study session discussing the fate of the data center proposal.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Residents hold up a sign protesting Project Blue during a community meeting in Tucson on Aug. 4. The plan was tied to Amazon Web Services, which federal agencies like DHS and ICE also use for surveillance purposes.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Residents speak during a Project Blue community meeting in Tucson on Aug. 4.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Representatives with Beale Infrastructure joined Tucson officials to give information about Project Blue during a meeting on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, held at Mica Mountain High School in Tucson’s far southeast side.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and other city leaders listen to a presentation about Project Blue during a community meeting in southeast Tucson on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The mayor and council will first vote on the project in August.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Representatives with Beale Infrastructure joined Tucson officials to give information about Project Blue during a meeting on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, held at Mica Mountain High School in Tucson’s far southeast side.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Representatives with Beale Infrastructure joined Tucson officials to give information about Project Blue during a meeting on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, held at Mica Mountain High School in Tucson’s far southeast side.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
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Pamphlets against Project Blue are displayed at the Watershed Management Group's Living Lab in midtown Tucson.
Alisa Reznick/KJZZ
In the Monday filing, TEP asked the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve its energy request for a 290-acre data center development that would consume 286 megawatts of energy.
The request does not say where the data center would be built in Pima County.
Commission Chair Kevin Thompson posted public comments in the related docket asking the panel to reject the request.
More Tucson news
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Mayor Regina Romero and the City Council set out to draft the proposal last year — after water needs from the Project Blue data center project generated intense public backlash. -
Mayor Regina Romero and City Council members asked city officials to put together a draft amendment after voting to block Project Blue last year. That’s the data center proposed for a 290-acre stretch of Tucson’s southeast side that would have used millions of gallons of city water. -
Residents of historic districts in Phoenix, Tucson and other affected cities cried foul over Arizona's middle housing law, worried that developers would buy older homes, demolish them and then build multi-family homes, changing the character of their neighborhoods forever. -
County officials discussed the opportunity of connecting Tucson to the Mexican passenger rail network at a Pima Association of Governments meeting in January. The meeting included participation from the Mexican railroad agency and consulate. -
Iran's World Cup hosts in Arizona said this week they were pressing on with training camp upgrades plus local and federal security plans — echoing the “stick to the schedule” mantra FIFA has used.
