{"id":1037787,"date":"2026-09-02T00:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T00:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1037787\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T00:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T00:12:13","slug":"ag-wants-arizona-to-pump-the-brakes-on-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1037787\/","title":{"rendered":"AG wants Arizona to pump the brakes on data centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE, AZ \u2014 Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is urging Governor Katie Hobbs and state lawmakers to pass legislation halting the approval of new data centers<\/a> across Arizona, and a proposed Glendale development could be one of the projects forced to stop in its tracks.<\/p>\n

Mayes says the state is facing a crisis on two fronts: a shrinking water supply and skyrocketing energy costs. The Department of Interior has already cut <\/a>Arizona’s Colorado River water supply by nearly 30 percent, and a 2025 analysis estimates that data center water demand in the greater Phoenix area could surge by more than 450 percent if all planned projects are built.<\/p>\n

“The only sane thing to do is to pause the approval of new data centers,” Mayes said. “Data centers are power- and water-intensive, and Arizona is challenged on both fronts right now.”<\/p>\n

Mayes has also opposed double-digit rate increase requests from Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power increases she says are driven in part by the need to build infrastructure to serve existing and planned data centers.<\/p>\n

A Glendale Project in the Spotlight<\/b><\/p>\n

Here in the Valley, a project called Project Eagle, formerly known as Project Baccara<\/a>, is already moving through the approval process. The development, proposed near the northwest corner of Litchfield Road and Olive Avenue in Glendale, would include three data centers, each approximately 330,000 square feet, along with an on-site power plant.<\/p>\n

On August 25th, the Glendale City Council held a workshop to discuss annexing the property into the city.<\/p>\n

Glendale resident April Butler, who lives near the proposed site and has been actively opposing the project, said she felt a wave of relief when she heard Mayes’ announcement.<\/p>\n

“A lot of relief,” Butler said. “It’s affecting us here in Arizona, and we have a big problem with water, but at what point does it get crucial?”<\/p>\n

Butler says her concerns go beyond water. She worries about the project’s proximity to Luke Air Force Base, the potential for chemical contamination of the local water supply from cooling systems, and the heat island effect on surrounding neighborhoods. A recent Arizona State University study found that data centers can raise nearby temperatures by as much as four degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

Butler also questions whether the community was given a meaningful voice in the process.<\/p>\n

“I felt like we were basically told this is going to be built,” Butler said. “Where did the public process go in that? I feel like it got bypassed.”<\/p>\n

Council Divided<\/b><\/p>\n

At the August 25th workshop, council member Lauren Tolmachoff of the Cholla District told attendees the project may be difficult to stop, noting the developer already holds county entitlements.<\/p>\n

“This already exists as a property right already,” Tolmachoff said. “So whether it’s annexed into Glendale or not annexed into Glendale, this data center is going to get built and developed.”<\/p>\n

But not everyone on the council is on board. Cactus District Councilman Lupe Conchas opposes the project.<\/p>\n

“I believe we could be doing so much and so much better for our community,” Conchas said, “and I understand there is a big fiscal impact of 14.4 million.”<\/p>\n

What Happens Next<\/b><\/p>\n

Mayes cannot unilaterally halt data center development; any pause would require action by the Arizona Legislature, which is not scheduled to return to session until January.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Mayes has announced she will hold a town hall in Ahwatukee on October 14th to hear directly from community members about another planned hyperscale data center project.<\/p>\n

The Glendale City Council has not yet taken a formal vote on the annexation of Project Eagle. This story will be updated as developments warrant.<\/p>\n

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, AZ \u2014 Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is urging Governor Katie Hobbs and state lawmakers to pass…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1037788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1037787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-phoenix","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117198556153197923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1037787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1037788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1037787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1037787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1037787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}