Amazon Deads Data Center Proposal Citing Lack Of Interest

Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz and Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham said multiple sources highlighted the possibility of seven or eight potential end-user tenants.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has dumped plans to be part of the Project Blue data center in Tucson, Arizona, citing a lack of continued interest, but city council members say differently, Data Center Dynamics reports.

The 290-acre strip of land in Pima County, developed by Blue Owl-owned Beale Infrastructure, had plans of hosting up to ten buildings totaling two million sq ft. Reports reveal the lack of interest from AWS comes after a change in proposed cooling technology, calling it unacceptable. The project will now host air cooling instead of water cooling, following complaints from local officials, resulting in denying project access to the city’s reclaimed water system.

Despite the back-and-forth, Beale says Amazon showed interest, but there was never an official contract in place to greenlight the partnership. “Beale can only speak on behalf of our project, and not to the intention of other companies,” the company said in a statement.

“Rather, it is up to any companies seeking to come into a market to announce that for themselves.”

However, there is room for another owner to come in. Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz and Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham said multiple sources highlighted the possibility of seven or eight potential end-user tenants.

There is still work to be done on the Amazon project before ground is officially broken, while Beale says an energy agreement isn’t necessary in order for the center to move forward. According to the Arizona Luminaria, state commissioners are expected to vote on a request for Tucson Electric Power to provide hundreds of megawatts of energy to the data center, as Tucson leaders and residents have expressed concerns.

The assistant city attorney to Tucson’s newest top lawyer, Roi Lusk, filed a request for the commission to host a more thorough public hearing on the energy agreement. “The very existence of these terms of the agreement raises the question of the impact of the agreement on the cost of electric power to other customers,” the filing says.

“The Commission should order that a proceeding be opened to consider Company’s request, complete with discovery, sworn testimony, a hearing with cross-examination, and briefing.”

Several residents, including those involved in the No Desert Data Center Coalition, have shown opposition to all large data center projects in the state. “We cannot afford to keep building these profit machines for billionaires that raise our bills and give us nothing in return,” the coalition said in a statement.

“Together as communities, we need to imagine what sustainable economic development projects are that give our families a prosperous and livable future.”