Project Blue still moving forward despite strong opposition
Plans for a data center campus in Tucson, Arizona, are still being moved forward despite water requests being rejected by local officials.
Local press, including AZPM, note that Blue Owl-owned Beale Infrastructure has filed for a ten-year energy supply agreement with the Arizona Corporation Commission, the state’s utilities regulator.
The news comes just weeks after local officials denied an annexation request that would have given the project access to the city’s reclaimed water system. The campus would need several years of potable water while a reclaimed water pipeline was built.
Under the filed energy agreement, Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) was requesting power for Beale and affiliate Humphrey’s Peak Power LLC’s 290-acre project on Houghton Road and Brekke Road in Pima County. The companies aim to launch in May 2027, ramping up to 286MW by 2028. TEP does not plan to build any new power plants to supply the Project Blue site.
In a comment to 13News, Beale said: “In Southern Arizona, where demand is rising, Beale Infrastructure remains committed to meeting that need responsibly and sustainably. As part of that process, we have engaged with TEP to provide clean energy supply for the project.”
Project Blue is a 290-acre site set to host a data center campus, with Amazon linked to the project. At least three data centers are reportedly set to be built, but the final number of buildings could be higher; reports suggest up to 10 buildings totaling 2 million sq ft (185,805 sqm) and 600MW are planned. Beale reportedly aims to invest $3.6 billion in the project.
The Pima County board of supervisors voted 3-2 in favor to authorize the sale of the land to Beale – although the deal is yet to close – and rezone the parcel from ‘rural homestead’ to ‘light industrial’ in June. Part of the site is currently used for clay shooting, which Beale is set to relocate.
However, earlier this month, the Tucson city council voted unanimously to reject requests to annex the land into the city in order to connect to Tucson’s reclaimed water system, while locals cheered the decision.
Local opposition group No Desert Data Center was formed to mobilize residents against the project over its water use and potential impact on the area. Mayor Regina Romero said that the city would also look to place limits on future data centers.
At the time, Beale said it was “disappointed” in the decision, calling it a “missed opportunity” for the city. In a press release, the company said it was no longer looking to use reclaimed water from the city. At the time, the company noted it continued to “believe there is a win-win solution to bring this record-breaking investment to Tucson.”
Councilmember Nikki Lee warned that after meeting with the developers, she believed a data center would still be built in the Tucson area regardless of the council's action. At least three other sites are known to be of interest in the area, with another targeted in Tucson and one in the Marana area to the north of the city; two are privately owned, and one is owned by the State of Arizona.
“The decision now is not whether Project Blue will exist. It is whether Tucson wants to be part of how it is done,” Lee said in her Aug. 5 newsletter.
Beale confirmed to Arizona Luminaria that the company remains committed to building on the land purchased from Pima County, but didn’t provide details on how it would access water for the data center.
Local officials have criticised the companies for making the energy request despite the recent denials – with County Supervisor Andres Cano saying he was requesting more information immediately: “Make no mistake, this filing is designed to bypass our community’s will and lock in power for a project that has already been rejected at a local level.”
TEP officials told local press that while the Tucson City Council declined to annex the property into the city limits, the developer is seeking electric service on county land.
“As a regulated entity, TEP has an obligation to serve customers in this area, so we developed an agreement that would allow us to do so while protecting our current customers from any negative impacts,” TEP said in a statement.
Source: DCD
