Opposition to large data centers grows across Arizona as Surprise-area Project Baccara enters permitting reviews

A wave of scrutiny across Arizona’s fast-growing data center pipeline

Community opposition to large-scale data centers is widening across Arizona, following a high-profile rejection in Chandler and new organizing around projects proposed near smaller communities and on the edges of metro Phoenix. The common thread is a debate over infrastructure tradeoffs: electricity demand, water use, emissions, land use, and local fiscal benefits versus the broader economic push to expand cloud and artificial-intelligence computing capacity.

In Chandler, the City Council voted unanimously in December 2025 to deny a rezoning request tied to a proposed artificial-intelligence-focused data center campus. The decision followed hours of public comment and hundreds of messages to city officials. City leaders said they want different types of employment and development outcomes for the Price Road Corridor, an area that already hosts major employers.

Project Baccara: a data center campus paired with on-site natural gas generation

In the West Valley, a proposed development known as Project Baccara is drawing attention because it pairs two data center buildings with on-site natural gas generators expected to total about 700 megawatts. The project is planned in unincorporated Maricopa County, in an industrial area north of Luke Air Force Base and near the Surprise city limits.

Because the site is outside municipal boundaries, Maricopa County is the primary local jurisdiction for land-use review. At the same time, the City of Surprise has sought detailed technical review of potential impacts, including air quality, noise, transportation, and water. The project’s regulatory path also includes state-level review: the development is expected to pursue a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility with the Arizona Corporation Commission for the generating facility, a process that involves public hearings.

• Location: unincorporated Maricopa County near Surprise, in proximity to Luke Air Force Base
• Scale: two data center buildings plus approximately 700 MW of natural gas generation
• Approvals: county land-use actions and a state environmental compatibility review for generation

Key questions raised in public discussions include how additional power generation and high-voltage infrastructure would affect air quality, noise levels, emergency planning, and traffic patterns in nearby neighborhoods and industrial corridors.

Statewide pattern: Page and Pima County projects also face public pushback

The debate extends beyond metro Phoenix. In Page, residents have mobilized against a proposed 1-gigawatt data center on a 500-acre parcel near Horseshoe Bend after the city approved a land sale in October 2025. Separately, in Pima County, a massive data center proposal has remained politically divisive, with county leaders split during votes on agreements shaping the project’s conditions and community commitments.

Across these cases, the central issues remain consistent: the intensity of electricity demand, the role of on-site generation, the pace and transparency of approvals, and the extent to which local communities see tangible benefits—such as sustained employment—relative to the infrastructure footprint required to support data center growth.