Data center pause would cost Arizona billions, Chamber of Commerce CEO warns

A moratorium on data centers would drive billions of dollars in investment out of Arizona, the state’s top business advocate warned, taking aim at politicians campaigning against the facilities.

“You cannot be anti-data center and be pro-economy,” Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry president Danny Seiden told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday. “They are needed and necessary.”

Seiden said candidates calling for a moratorium are chasing a popular position while ignoring the economic consequences. He did not name any candidate but referenced “an attorney general who’s campaigning” on a pause on data center development.

Attorney General Kris Mayes called for a moratorium on new data centers last week.

“These billions and billions and billions of dollars will go somewhere else if they don’t come to Arizona,” Seiden said.

In response, the chamber launched what Seiden called the “Arizona Go Offline Pledge,” a tongue-in-cheek challenge for politicians who oppose data centers to campaign without relying on digital infrastructure.

While Seiden recognized legitimate concerns around data centers, he argued the backlash is being amplified by foreign influence operations.

“X has been doing audits, catching over 200,000 bots paid for by China recently, working on one thing: countering the data center boom in America, because they want to beat us in that AI race,” he said.

Seiden was referencing an August announcement from X’s Global Government Affairs team, which said the platform identified a network of approximately 200,000 suspected inauthentic accounts linked to China.

According to X, about 200 of those accounts posted content that “could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy.”

The X Safety team conducted an investigation into suspected Chinese inauthentic accounts involved in influence operations:

We identified a bot farm of approximately 200,000 accounts. Within this farm, we found 200 accounts posting in a manner that could manipulate a legitimate… pic.twitter.com/Mj0SqerdlH

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 28, 2026

What about data centers straining Arizona’s water and energy ?

Responding to concerns that data centers will raise residential electricity bills and tap the state’s limited water supply, Seiden said Arizona utilities have structured plans requiring the facilities to cover their own infrastructure costs.

“APS, SRP, TEP, they’ve all put in plans where growth pays for growth,” he said, listing the state’s major power companies.

Seiden acknowledged the industry’s history of secrecy has fueled public distrust, but said residents’ concerns are being answered.

He pointed to Project Blue, a Pima County proposal in which developers offered to build a water treatment plant and donate it to the county.

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