TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — There are more signs the Project Blue data center will be built in the Tucson area even though Tucson City Council rejected the plan.
After the Council’s rejection the company issued a statement suggesting it still plans to build in Pima County now a rate case filing from Tucson Electric confirms continued interest in a data center on the original site.
Beale Infrastructure, the company developing Project Blue, sent a memo to Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher outlining how Tucson Electric Power has sent a request to the Arizona Corporation Commission that would define electrical rates for the data center.
TEP’s filing with the Commission identifies the site as the area of Houghton Road near the Fairgrounds that Pima County sold to Project Blue’s developers.
The memo says TEP does not plan to build any new power plants to supply the Project Blue site.
When Pima County sold Beale Infrastructure land near the Pima County Fairgrounds the original plan required Tucson to agree to annex the land into city limits and supply the site with cooling water from Tucson’s water utility.
The city rejected its part of the deal after opponents raised fears of high water and electrical use.
The developers offered to build a line for reclaimed water big enough to cool Project Blue and give Tucson extra capacity for other uses. The company killed the pipeline plan when Tucson rejected the annexation.
Project Blue said it can build the data center with techniques that require less cooling water.
