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Released August 11, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The city council of Tucson, Arizona, last week unanimously voted against the construction of Amazon Web Services' (Seattle, Washington) Project Blue, a hyperscale data center intended for land that would have been newly incorporated into the city limits. The project was shrouded in secrecy from the public and many city leaders for most of its negotiations and development, prompting widespread public opposition that ultimately led to its demise.
Under discussion with local officials since 2023, plans for the data center were veiled in the form of nondisclosure agreements to shield the identity of the end-user, Amazon Web Services, from the public as well as most city officials. Discussions between the public face of the project, real estate developer Beale Infrastructure (San Francisco, California), and county governance occurred behind closed doors. Public officials did not announce the possibility of a data center coming to region until February this year, which set the ball rolling for a groundswell of scrutiny and opposition from the public, concerned about water use (Arizona is in the midst of a drought) and the facility's substantial power consumption, which may have led to an increase in rates.
Steps toward the development of the data center began picking up this summer. The facility was intended for a 290-acre plot of land in Pima County near the Tucson fairgrounds. On June 18, only days before a public meeting on the project, the county rezoned the parcel from "rural homestead" to "light industrial." The facility was to be powered by Tucson Electric Power (Tucson), which around that time happened to propose a 14% rate hike for area homes, prompting further opposition to the mysterious project, details of which continued to be largely veiled from the public and many Tucson officials. The rate hike and concerns about water consumption continued to swell public opposition, which increased as more details came to light.
In late July, regional publication the Arizona Luminaria broke the story that the end-user of the proposed data center was Amazon Web Services (AWS), and more details began to emerge regarding the size and resource-consumption of the planned project. AWS tends to focus on hyperscale data centers, massive facilities housing thousands of servers and requiring substantial amounts of power to operate and water for cooling.
The first phase of the project would have consumed an estimated 300 megawatts of power, and that was for only three out of a potential 10 data center buildings. To top things off, it was revealed that the data center would be tapping into the city's drinking water supply for at least the first two years of operation until a line for treated wastewater could be built--perhaps not the best way to begin operating in the drought-stricken area. The National Integrated Drought Information System shows the region surrounding Tucson as being under D2 (severe drought) and D3 (extreme drought) conditions.
Regarding the water, however, one primary hitch remained: The 290-acre parcel needed to be annexed by the City of Tucson in order to receive city water. That proposal was scheduled to go up for a vote on August 19. Meanwhile, opposition continued to swell, with grassroots group No Desert Data Center taking the lead in mobilizing local opposition and informing residents of new information regarding the development as it came to light.
With the August 19 meeting regarding city annexation of the land still in the future, the groundswell of opposition last week prompted the Tucson city council to vote unanimously to end all negotiations and remove the annexation agreement from the meeting's agenda, effectively killing the project for that location. Local media outlets reported widespread cheering from the packed council chambers when the announcement was made. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said that the city would look to place limits on future data centers.
"The rejection of Project Blue by Tucson City Council is a huge victory for our desert community and would not have happened without thousands of Tucsonans coming out to vehemently oppose it," the No Desert Data Center group said in a statement.
After the council's rejection of the project, local news outlet 13 News asked Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott whether he would have liked to see the plan go differently. He replied, "Yes, I think there were lessons learned by Tucson Water, by Tucson Electric Power and by the developer in terms of what was shared with the board and what has to be shared moving forward with Mayor and Council."
The AWS facility was planned to eventually hold up to 10 buildings covering 2 million square feet, with the first phase of construction planned to go live in 2027. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
As real estate developer Beale Infrastructure was the public face of the project, Amazon Web Services was able to keep a distance from both the project and the council's rejection, saying it did not have any commitments or agreements to develop the project and would consider other regions for it. "AWS has previously engaged in standard due diligence processes in Arizona, like we do in any geographic location we consider building and operating our infrastructure," a spokesperson said.
When asked about the project and its ultimate outcome by 13 News,County Supervisor Scott said he was "a little surprised at the magnitude and the emotion behind it, but not at all surprised at Tucson's care that Tucsonans are very concerned about their water security. They're very concerned about climate action and potential impacts and their quality of life."
Perhaps the next time the biggest project ever to come to the area is put on the table, corporations and governing leaders will be a bit more forthcoming with residents, as the darkness and secrecy surrounding the project throughout its development seems to have been the prime impetus for its ultimate rejection.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Under discussion with local officials since 2023, plans for the data center were veiled in the form of nondisclosure agreements to shield the identity of the end-user, Amazon Web Services, from the public as well as most city officials. Discussions between the public face of the project, real estate developer Beale Infrastructure (San Francisco, California), and county governance occurred behind closed doors. Public officials did not announce the possibility of a data center coming to region until February this year, which set the ball rolling for a groundswell of scrutiny and opposition from the public, concerned about water use (Arizona is in the midst of a drought) and the facility's substantial power consumption, which may have led to an increase in rates.
Steps toward the development of the data center began picking up this summer. The facility was intended for a 290-acre plot of land in Pima County near the Tucson fairgrounds. On June 18, only days before a public meeting on the project, the county rezoned the parcel from "rural homestead" to "light industrial." The facility was to be powered by Tucson Electric Power (Tucson), which around that time happened to propose a 14% rate hike for area homes, prompting further opposition to the mysterious project, details of which continued to be largely veiled from the public and many Tucson officials. The rate hike and concerns about water consumption continued to swell public opposition, which increased as more details came to light.
In late July, regional publication the Arizona Luminaria broke the story that the end-user of the proposed data center was Amazon Web Services (AWS), and more details began to emerge regarding the size and resource-consumption of the planned project. AWS tends to focus on hyperscale data centers, massive facilities housing thousands of servers and requiring substantial amounts of power to operate and water for cooling.
The first phase of the project would have consumed an estimated 300 megawatts of power, and that was for only three out of a potential 10 data center buildings. To top things off, it was revealed that the data center would be tapping into the city's drinking water supply for at least the first two years of operation until a line for treated wastewater could be built--perhaps not the best way to begin operating in the drought-stricken area. The National Integrated Drought Information System shows the region surrounding Tucson as being under D2 (severe drought) and D3 (extreme drought) conditions.
Regarding the water, however, one primary hitch remained: The 290-acre parcel needed to be annexed by the City of Tucson in order to receive city water. That proposal was scheduled to go up for a vote on August 19. Meanwhile, opposition continued to swell, with grassroots group No Desert Data Center taking the lead in mobilizing local opposition and informing residents of new information regarding the development as it came to light.
With the August 19 meeting regarding city annexation of the land still in the future, the groundswell of opposition last week prompted the Tucson city council to vote unanimously to end all negotiations and remove the annexation agreement from the meeting's agenda, effectively killing the project for that location. Local media outlets reported widespread cheering from the packed council chambers when the announcement was made. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said that the city would look to place limits on future data centers.
"The rejection of Project Blue by Tucson City Council is a huge victory for our desert community and would not have happened without thousands of Tucsonans coming out to vehemently oppose it," the No Desert Data Center group said in a statement.
After the council's rejection of the project, local news outlet 13 News asked Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott whether he would have liked to see the plan go differently. He replied, "Yes, I think there were lessons learned by Tucson Water, by Tucson Electric Power and by the developer in terms of what was shared with the board and what has to be shared moving forward with Mayor and Council."
The AWS facility was planned to eventually hold up to 10 buildings covering 2 million square feet, with the first phase of construction planned to go live in 2027. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
As real estate developer Beale Infrastructure was the public face of the project, Amazon Web Services was able to keep a distance from both the project and the council's rejection, saying it did not have any commitments or agreements to develop the project and would consider other regions for it. "AWS has previously engaged in standard due diligence processes in Arizona, like we do in any geographic location we consider building and operating our infrastructure," a spokesperson said.
When asked about the project and its ultimate outcome by 13 News,County Supervisor Scott said he was "a little surprised at the magnitude and the emotion behind it, but not at all surprised at Tucson's care that Tucsonans are very concerned about their water security. They're very concerned about climate action and potential impacts and their quality of life."
Perhaps the next time the biggest project ever to come to the area is put on the table, corporations and governing leaders will be a bit more forthcoming with residents, as the darkness and secrecy surrounding the project throughout its development seems to have been the prime impetus for its ultimate rejection.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
