The Data Center Debate

By state

Data centers in Arizona

47 data centers and projects on our map in Arizona, including 6 projects we track in detail. Each one links to its source. Below: where they are by county, the projects in the news, and the latest reporting from both sides.

See Arizona on the map. Existing facilities come from OpenStreetMap, a community-maintained public map that is incomplete; proposed, under construction and blocked projects are tracked one by one from news, filings and official records.

Projects in the news

Blocked, paused or withdrawn Rezoning denied 4 to 1 by the county board of supervisors, August 2026

La Osa Energy Center

Eloy, Pinal County

A proposed data center and generation project near Eloy in central Arizona. Local groups and labor unions filled the hearing room, and supervisors voted the rezoning down, part of a series of Arizona decisions driven by water and electricity concerns.

Issues raised: water, power, opposition, zoning

Source: Calo News, 2026-08 · On the map

Blocked, paused or withdrawn 120 day moratorium adopted 3 to 2 on Sept. 22, 2026

Pima County Data Center Moratorium

Tucson, Pima County

announced 2026-09-22

Pima County paused new data center applications for 120 days while staff drafts zoning rules aimed at addressing drought, air pollution and noise. Staff aims to bring a permanent policy back by December 10.

Issues raised: water, air-pollution, noise, zoning, opposition

Source: AZ Luminaria, 2026-09-23 · On the map

Blocked, paused or withdrawn Annexation rejected 7 to 0 by Tucson City Council, August 2025

Project Blue

Tucson, Pima County · Operator: Beale Infrastructure

A proposed data center campus originally linked to Amazon Web Services on land the city was asked to annex and serve with water. The council voted against it after large public meetings focused on desert water use, electricity demand and the secrecy of the negotiations, and the developer later looked at unincorporated Pima County.

Issues raised: water, power, opposition, zoning

Source: AZ Luminaria, 2025-08-06 · On the map

Proposed Planning and Zoning Commission approved conditional use permit 6 to 1 on 2026-10-01

Grande Valley Industrial Data Center Campus

Casa Grande, Pinal

announced 2026-10-01

The Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit on October 1, 2026, for the 954 acre campus, which plans to use on site natural gas fuel cells and operate off grid. The commission approval followed a hearing in which 17 written comments opposed the project and three supported it, with concerns focused on water use during drought.

Issues raised: water, power, jobs, zoning, air-pollution

Source: Pinal Central, 2026-10-02 · On the map

Operating Operating command center converted from a failed factory

Apple Global Data Command Center, Mesa

Mesa, Maricopa County · Operator: Apple

$2 billion

Apple converted a shuttered sapphire glass plant in Mesa into a global data command center, a roughly 2 billion dollar project that employs about 150 full time staff. It anchors Mesa's Elliot Technology Corridor, which now holds several large data centers and is a focal point for Arizona debates over water and electricity in a drought stressed region.

Issues raised: water, power, jobs, tax-incentives

Source: TechCrunch · On the map

Operating Operating, later phases switched to air cooling

Microsoft Goodyear Data Center Campus

Goodyear, Maricopa County · Operator: Microsoft

Microsoft's Goodyear campus has been operating since the early 2020s and became a test case for data center water use in metro Phoenix. Microsoft agreed to air cooled designs for new capacity and in March 2026 committed 36 million dollars toward a 90 million dollar expansion of the city's wastewater treatment plant to increase reclaimed water supply.

Issues raised: water, power, tax-incentives, jobs

Source: Arizona Technology Council, 2026-03 · On the map

By county

  • Maricopa County 2 on the map
    Apple Global Data Command Center, Mesa, Microsoft Goodyear Data Center Campus
  • Pima County 2 on the map
    Project Blue, Pima County Data Center Moratorium
  • Pinal 1 on the map
    Grande Valley Industrial Data Center Campus
  • Pinal County 1 on the map
    La Osa Energy Center

Latest news from Arizona

Supports the case against policy October 13, 2026

Arizona Attorney General to hold Mesa town hall on data centers October 14

Attorney General Kris Mayes will host a public town hall on data centers in Mesa, Arizona on October 14, part of her office's continuing push for a statewide pause on new approvals while a plan is developed to manage energy and water impacts. The event follows her office's focus on Menlo Digital's proposed Ahwatukee project and resident objections there.

EIN Presswire Local opposition and consent Laws, bills and regulation Water use

Check it: A town hall is an outreach event and does not by itself change state policy, which still rests with the governor and legislature.

Cited by both sides news October 9, 2026

Data center costs divide Arizona Corporation Commission candidates

Candidates for two open seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission split on whether the regulator should launch an independent review of whether data centers are paying their own costs, with the issue sharpened by the attorney general's call for an investigation. APS is also seeking a $608.7 million rate increase.

Arizona Capitol Times Who pays for the grid buildout Laws, bills and regulation

Check it: Candidate positions in an election are not commission decisions; check the ACC's docket for any formal investigation order.

Supports the case against policy October 8, 2026

Arizona attorney general urges Corporation Commission to investigate alleged $587 million cost shift from data centers to APS customers

Attorney General Kris Mayes asked state regulators to publicly investigate a consumer advocate's analysis contending that between 2023 and 2025 roughly $587 million in costs tied to large energy users, principally data centers, may have been allocated through APS's Power Supply Adjuster to other customers. APS called the analysis misleading and said residential and small business customers are not paying for data center power usage.

Arizona Attorney General Who pays for the grid buildout Secret contracts and disclosure

Check it: The $587 million is a consumer advocate's calculation that APS disputes; the number is contested, and no commission finding has been made.

Cited by both sides local October 2, 2026

Casa Grande planning commission approves 954 acre Grande Valley data center campus

The Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6 to 1 on October 1 to approve a conditional use permit for the Grande Valley Industrial Data Center Campus, a 954 acre site planned to use on site natural gas fuel cells rather than a grid connection. The city received 17 emails in opposition and three in support, with speakers at the hearing raising water, drought and job quality concerns; developer estimates include 1,200 construction jobs and 445 permanent jobs.

Pinal Central Water use Jobs Siting, zoning and standards

Check it: Job and tax revenue figures come from the developer; the water cap and self generation claims should be checked against the final permit language.

Cited by both sides local October 2, 2026

Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission approves 954 acre Grande Valley data center 6 to 1

The Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6 to 1 to approve a conditional use permit for a 954 acre data center campus with on site natural gas generation and battery storage near Montgomery Road, under the city's new 2025 data center ordinance. The developer has an allocation of about 300 acre feet or 97 million gallons of water per year, and 9 of 10 public speakers opposed the project amid Colorado River cuts and recent Lucid Motors layoffs. No City Council vote is required.

KJZZ Water use Local opposition and consent Siting, zoning and standards Air quality and on-site power

Check it: Check the actual water allocation and whether it is groundwater or Central Arizona Project water, and whether on site gas generation will be subject to air permitting separate from the CUP.

Cited by both sides local October 2, 2026

Casa Grande hearing is the first test of Arizona city's 2025 data center permitting rules

The Grande Valley conditional use permit was the first full test of Casa Grande Ordinance 3479, which the city adopted in 2025 to replace by right data center approvals in I 2 industrial zones with public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission. Two landowners separately sued the city over the new rules, claiming $140 million in lost property values; the city previously waived requirements for one of them to avoid a settlement payout.

Hoodline Siting, zoning and standards Laws, bills and regulation

Check it: Check whether other Arizona cities adopt or copy Ordinance 3479, and whether the pending $140 million property rights suit against Casa Grande proceeds now that the Grande Valley permit was granted.

Supports the case against local September 23, 2026

Pima County passes 120 day data center moratorium

The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 on September 22 to pause new data center permits for 120 days while staff drafts zoning rules the board hopes to adopt by December 10. The resolution cites public health, air pollution, drought and noise concerns. Two existing projects, Project Blue and the proposed Project Gravel in Sahuarita, are already in the pipeline and their treatment under the moratorium is disputed.

AZ Luminaria Local opposition and consent Water use Siting, zoning and standards

Check it: Confirm whether Project Gravel is covered by the moratorium or grandfathered because of prior industrial zoning.

Supports the case against policy September 15, 2026

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes calls for statewide one-year pause on new data center approvals

Attorney General Mayes asked Governor Hobbs and the legislature to enact a one-year moratorium on approvals of hyperscale AI data centers, citing rising electric bills and a roughly 30 percent cut to Arizona's Colorado River allocation. Mayes also announced a town hall on the proposed Ahwatukee data center. State lawmakers already paused Arizona's data center sales tax exemption for three years in the 2026 session.

Arizona Attorney General Water use Who pays for the grid buildout Local opposition and consent Laws, bills and regulation

Check it: The AG has no unilateral authority to impose a moratorium; enactment would require the governor or legislature.

Weighing it up

For the arguments behind these fights, see the case for data centers, the case against, and the questions people ask, each answered from both sides.