Casa Grande Puts New Data Center Rules to the Test With 945-Acre Campus
Casa Grande's Planning and Zoning Commission is considering a conditional-use permit for LKY Development Company's proposed data center campus of up to nine buildings on roughly 945 acres. The project faces scrutiny over water use, energy supply, emissions and noise, while the city's new permitting rules have already prompted a $140 million property-rights lawsuit and a separate exemption for another site.
Casa Grande's Planning and Zoning Commission is set to review LKY Development Company's application for a large data center campus southwest of the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. Filed by Colliers Energy, the proposal includes up to nine buildings, an on-site natural gas power plant and battery storage, and would operate primarily without connecting to the regional grid. The application limits water use to 300 acre-feet annually but leaves several details, including total energy demand and fuel source, unresolved.
The hearing is the first major test of Casa Grande's new conditional-use permit system, adopted through Ordinance 3479 for data centers in industrial zones. The rules followed a $140 million lawsuit by landowners under Arizona's Proposition 207 property-rights law; the City Council later voted 7-0 to exempt a separate 480-acre Barnes family property from the permitting requirement.
Rural Arizona Engagement plans to participate in the hearing, citing risks to local water and energy supplies amid Colorado River reductions and growing demand on Arizona Public Service's system. Mayor Lisa Navarro Fitzgibbons said the permitting process is intended to give residents and officials more oversight while imposing enforceable water, energy and noise protections.