Glendale Data Center and Gas Plant Face Scrutiny Over Air Pollution
A proposed data center and 744-megawatt natural gas power plant near Glendale and Surprise are raising concerns about cumulative air pollution and health impacts. Maricopa County regulators are still deciding whether Project Eagle and Project Baccara should be treated as one emissions source, while residents oppose locating the facilities near homes.
Michigan-based developer Takanock and data center developer Montera Infrastructure are planning a large data center, known as Project Eagle, alongside the 744-megawatt Project Baccara gas plant on land near Glendale and Surprise. The power plant is intended to provide backup and supplemental electricity for the data center while eventually supplying power to the grid. The projects’ air permit applications show that their combined potential emissions could exceed Baccara’s voluntary limits for several pollutants.
The Maricopa County Air Quality Department has tentatively treated the facilities as a single emissions source because the power plant initially would exist primarily to serve the data center, though no final determination has been made. Residents and environmental advocates warn that the projects could worsen pollution in the Phoenix area’s ozone nonattainment zone, while county and state officials weigh the projects’ electricity and economic benefits. Glendale annexed the site in October, and the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Line Siting Committee recommended approval of Baccara’s environmental certificate despite dissent over its location and air-quality impacts.