Despite enticing promises from a large corporate backer — rumored to be Amazon — the city of Tucson has just rejected plans to build a resource-intensive, 290-acre data center within its boundaries, WebProNews reported.
The proposed data center, dubbed Project Blue, might have been suitable for cloud computing or generative AI. It would have been located north of the Pima County Fairgrounds and might have provided tax funds and jobs.
However, it definitely would have used an incredible amount of electricity in a state where the demand for power has gone up by roughly 1% per year for over a decade, and it would use millions of gallons of water each year in a state facing prolonged drought.
Arizona's fight to provide its residents with power and water has been intense. According to WebProNews, commenters on the social media platform X were justifiably worried about how reliable the energy grid would stay with a massive data center guzzling the town's resources. The cost of electricity could also go up.
Meanwhile, it simply doesn't make sense to cool servers with fresh drinking water in the same state where one city recently banned lawns due to water concerns, and the San Carlos Apache Tribe has declared a state of emergency due to drought.
There are alternatives that would reduce the burden on the environment and on local residents. For example, since data centers often need dedicated power generation, they could be required to pay for the construction themselves rather than having it subsidized by local ratepayers. Servers can be cooled with air or recycled water instead of fresh water.
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Some who want tech companies to invest in data centers in their area worry that such regulations will prompt companies to invest in other states, but the alternative places an unbearable burden on the community.
"We can't trade our future for short-term gains," said one Tucson city council member, according to WebProNews.
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