Pinal County shoots down data center proposal despite developer's compromises
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted down a proposal for what would have been Arizona's largest data center project near Eloy. This decision followed strong resident opposition primarily due to concerns over water and electricity consumption, despite the developer offering significant compromises.
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors recently rejected a proposal for a data center project near Eloy, which was intended to be the largest in Arizona. The decision came after significant opposition from residents, who raised concerns about the project's intensive water and power usage.
The developer had made substantial compromises in an attempt to address these concerns, scaling back the project from an initial plan of 59 buildings and two gas-fired power plants to 11 buildings and one power plant. They also proposed building several miles away from residential areas and pledged to use less water. However, these concessions were not enough to sway the county leaders, who noted that 90% of the public was against the project and expressed apprehension about approving a project without a specific end-user company tied to it.
Water and power consumption remain central to the opposition. A Yale professor highlighted that modern data centers can consume over 3 million gallons of water daily, comparable to a town of several thousand people. While proposed closed-loop cooling systems can reduce water usage, they significantly increase electricity demand. Additionally, the planned natural gas generators raised concerns about air pollutants. The video also noted that Arizona currently hosts 160 data centers, with many more proposed, prompting counties and cities to critically evaluate the long-term sustainability of their water and power resources for such developments.