Tucson residents protest the proposed Project Blue data center in Pima County. (Photo by Paul Ingram/TucsonSentinel.com)
We’re in the midst of a data center boom, with 160 data centers in Arizona alone. At the same time, temperatures and utility bills have skyrocketed, with many Arizonans struggling to afford to cool their homes. Tech companies want us to believe we’re all benefiting from this data center boom, but rural communities are asking, “who benefits and who pays?”
In Pinal County, residents recently defeated La Osa Energy Center in Eloy, one of the largest data centers being proposed, through public testimony and organizing.
Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE) and Rural Arizona Action, which I co-founded, have created spaces to ensure residents have a voice in the decisions shaping our communities. I’ve witnessed working families face growing challenges, from our water to our voting access, we are fighting for a future where rural communities have the resources we need to thrive.
Data centers are not the answer to these needs.
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Rural communities are especially vulnerable when developers promise infrastructure improvements and economic benefits. Pinal County is facing more than 6,000 acres of planned data center and energy project development. Near Casa Grande, Project Midway is proposed to use gas for power, with no initial grid connection.
Our position is clear: If data centers must be built, tech companies should pay for the infrastructure and the energy they consume, rather than driving up consumer bills. Proposals should be transparent, involve the community and consider potential impacts on wildlife and way of life.
For RAZE, co-governance plays a big role in the work we do, and our movement continuously keeps up. Climate Power’s new Data Center Air Pollution Tracker reveals how hyperscalers are powering the data centers behind their AI. Trillion-dollar tech companies can choose how they power their data centers, and can afford to do it without spiking consumer bills or creating a new epidemic of air pollution.
As the pollution tracker shows, we risk both.
Choosing cleaner energy over gas and coal avoids raising household costs and cuts air pollution, and Americans overwhelmingly favor powering data centers with clean energy. Climate Power’s tracker shows that tech companies still have a lot of work to do to power their facilities with clean energy.
Donald Trump and his EPA administrators have made clear they are willing to look the other way when these gas-powered data centers destroy air quality — even when they are breaking the law.
We must be proactive and demand accountability from developers who bring these projects to our communities. Kevin Thompson, the chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission, estimated that Arizona would need to double the size of its power grid in five years to meet the energy demands of data centers. Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Arizona Energy Promise Taskforce projected that Arizona’s electricity demand would increase by 40% over the next 15 years, due in part to data centers.
Families are seeing utility costs rise. Since 2025, at least seven utilities enacted or proposed rate hikes totaling over $2.6 billion, affecting nearly 3.1 million electricity customers and more than 1.4 million natural gas customers.
If the first step to protect our families is to demand clean energy developments, it’s a strong start.
Recent polling found that “how data centers are powered” makes a massive difference in people’s feelings about them coming to their communities. We see this reflected in conversations with our communities. Rural communities are often left out of decisions that will shape our future for years to come. To start, we demand data centers pay the costs, require clean energy, and give rural communities a voice.
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Courtesy of Arizona Mirror
