A proposal to build Arizona’s largest data center complex was dramatically scaled back this week, after facing backlash from residents.
Vermaland, LLC is the developer leading the $33 billion La Osa data center proposal in Pinal County, which would cover 3,300 acres near Eloy. The company announced on Thursday that it would cut the project from 59 to 11 data center buildings. The situation mirrors the nationwide debate on data center development, framed by critics as a drain on infrastructure and communities, and by advocates as essential to sustaining and advancing the modern way of life.
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The major concession from the land developer came during a public hearing before the Pinal County Board of Supervisors on its application to rezone and begin site planning. The board voted to continue the discussion and public hearing until August 26, after previously granting Vermaland zoning approval for the hub in a 7-2 vote on April 16.
Vermaland’s attorney, Court Rich, has promised La Osa would generate its own electricity to ease concerns about power use and pledged it would not consume excessive water, with either air cooling or a closed-loop system. The project proposal had set plans for two on-site gas-fired power plants and battery energy storage systems, delivering up to 3 gigawatts of its own power capacity.
“I don’t know that I’ve worked on a project of this scale that’s ever had more neighborhood support,” Rich told the board during a meeting last November, when the data center project received preliminary approval.
Rich said Thursday that in addition to cutting the number of data center buildings by 80%, Vermaland would limit its energy demand to 1 gigawatt.
Rural Arizona Engagement, or RAZE, a progressive activist group, has helped lead opposition to the development.
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This week, the board heard around 60 comments and fielded 50 emails, all in opposition to the project, according to KJZZ.
“This isn’t a Left or Right issue, this is a people issue, and I think today was a testament to that because at one point we had 174 people here [at the public hearing] and not everybody was on one side of the political spectrum, people were here across the political spectrum,” RAZE Political Policy Director Anthony Ramirez said in a video posted to social media on Thursday.
