Valley data center opposition spreads as project near Surprise faces scrutiny

Opposition is mounting regarding another Valley data center project.

Last month, a planned $2.5 billion, 422,000-square-foot artificial intelligence data center championed by former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was voted down by Chandler City Council, which rejected a rezoning and development agreement for the project after a marathon meeting that featured significant public outcry.

Now other proposed facilities in other cities are facing various groups threatening to slow down development.

Project Baccara is a new data center campus planned just outside the city limits of Surprise in unincorporated Maricopa County — in an industrial area just north of Luke Air Force Base. The development would include two data center buildings and two accompanying natural gas generators that are expected to provide about 700 megawatts of power.

While the roughly 160-acre site is in an unincorporated area, the city of Surprise is still requesting a thorough review of the project’s potential impact on air quality, noise, transportation and water, according to a city webpage.

This story is posted in partnership with Phoenix Business Journal. Click to read the full story.

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