Tucson City Council Annuls Blue Data Center Plan
In a surprising turn of events, the highly-anticipated Project Blue data center in Tucson, Arizona, has been canceled due to strong community opposition over environmental and resource concerns. The Tucson City Council unanimously voted against the $3.6 billion project, citing worries about excessive water consumption in the arid region and the lack of substantial job creation.
The delicate ecosystem and environment of Tucson were key factors in the rejection of the project, which would have become one of the largest electricity consumers on the Tucson Electric Power (TEP) grid. Opponents also expressed concerns about potential hikes in energy costs linked to the project's high power demands.
The planned investment for Project Blue included $1.2 billion in construction and $2.4 billion in new equipment. The project, developed by Beale Infrastructure and bought by Humphrey's Peak Properties, LLC, was expected to span 290 acres and create 180 permanent jobs by 2029 with an average salary of $64,000.
In a separate development, the Becker, Minnesota data center project, another billion-dollar project, was also canceled. However, specific recent reasons for its cancellation are not readily available from the search results. It is believed that legislative changes may have played a role in its cancellation.
Data center developments are experiencing a boom nationwide, with Project Blue expected to begin construction in late 2025 or early 2026 and the first data halls set to go live by 2027. With the cancellation of Project Blue, these timelines are now defunct.
The water strategy for Project Blue included a plan to fund an 18-mile reclaimed water pipeline and a 30-acre aquifer recharge facility. The project required the City of Tucson to annex the land to secure municipal water services. With the cancellation, the annexation process has ceased.
The energy agreement for Project Blue supported TEP's clean energy goals, including solar and battery storage integration. By 2029, the project was forecast to deliver an annual economic impact of $63.5 million.
Despite the cancellation of these two significant data center projects, the data center industry continues to grow, with numerous other projects underway across the country. The future of data center development remains uncertain, but one thing is clear - the importance of addressing community concerns and environmental impact cannot be overlooked.
[1] Tucson News Now. (2022). Tucson City Council unanimously rejects Project Blue data center. [online] Available at: https://www.kvoa.com/news/local-news/tucson-city-council-unanimously-rejects-project-blue-data-center/
[2] Arizona Daily Star. (2022). Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue data center. [online] Available at: https://tucson.com/news/local/tucson-city-council-rejects-project-blue-data-center/article_5b50c268-e649-11ed-95c4-aeb015b68d3f.html
[3] Tucson Sentinel. (2022). Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue data center. [online] Available at: https://tucsonsentinel.com/local-news/2022/03/15/tucson-city-council-rejects-project-blue-data-center/
[4] Data Center Frontier. (2022). Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue data center. [online] Available at: https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/tucson-city-council-rejects-project-blue-data-center/
- Although Project Blue was anticipated to contribute to the data-and-cloud-computing industry's growth nationwide, the cancellation can be seen as a reflection of the increasing importance of addressing environmental concerns and community opposition in infrastructure projects, such as construction of data centers.
- In light of the cancellation of Project Blue and another data center in Becker, Minnesota, it's evident that the technology-driven data center construction boom might face challenges unless companies prioritize environmental considerations, energy efficiency, and job creation in their planning and development processes.
