Project 48 Arizona

"Maybe it’s a foolhardy attitude, maybe it is, you know, rugged individualism brought to its absolute extreme. But, it is kind of who we are."

This headline is a little misleading. The 31 million gallons figure is the amount allowed under existing groundwater rights, not the project’s expected use. The article itself says the fully operational facility is estimated to use 15,000 to 20,000 gallons per day, mostly for standard office uses and fire suppression. For context, @EIAgov says large commercial buildings average about 22,000 gallons per day: eia.gov/consumption/co… That’s a very different story than “data center could use 31 million gallons.”

Energy storage helps Arizona hold onto more of the power we already produce and use it when homes and businesses need it most. That matters because it helps make our grid more reliable. On hot summer evenings or during monsoon season, when storms can disrupt solar production, storage gives the grid another tool to meet demand. And that matters even more given that Arizona has broken its peak energy demand record two years in a row. Arizona now has enough utility-scale storage to power roughly 560,000 homes for a day on a single charge. Let’s keep it up. ⚡

That’s fair. I still think this is a good step forward for an American company trying to scale its service and keep improving the technology. Worth noting: Waymo is also adding the Hyundai IONIQ 5, which is built in Georgia. This article gets into the cost difference between the new van and Waymo’s current fleet: sherwood.news/tech/alphabet-…

@project48az @Waymo I applaud the step forward, but why can't we use an American car manufacturer for these instead of a Chinese one?

Pretty cool this is happening here in Arizona. @Waymo is launching a new vehicle here in Phoenix, retrofitted right here in Mesa, and pretty soon people across the Valley will be able to ride in it. It’s roomier, has more trunk space, and is easier to get in and out of, making it more accessible to people who rely on this kind of technology to get around. Another example of what’s possible when Arizona welcomes new technology and lets innovation take the driver’s seat. azcentral.com/story/money/bu…

Sources: Arizona Commerce Authority: Computer Data Center Program requirements azcommerce.com/media/mpdpaoys… PwC: Arizona data center economic and tax impact analysis phoenix.gov/content/dam/ph… NCSL: State data center incentive comparison ncsl.org/state-legislat… Redfin: Arizona median home price data redfin.com/state/Arizona/… Common Sense Institute Arizona: Housing affordability and shortage estimates commonsenseinstituteus.org/arizona/resear…

“Arizona continues handing over millions… with virtually no accountability or public return.” This is absurd. These projects bring billions in private investment, construction jobs, permanent jobs, utility payments, local tax base growth, infrastructure improvements, and long-term economic activity. Are data centers perfect? No. But “not perfect” is very different from “no public return.” You can argue the return should be higher. You can argue the guardrails should be stronger. Government should be careful about picking winners and losers. Arizona should be skeptical of incentives that fail to deliver meaningful returns. Data center projects should be expected to meet serious standards around water, power, infrastructure, transparency, and community impact. That is a serious policy debate. Calling the incentive “robbery” is not. Arizona deserves better than slogans.

This op-ed wants you angry. It does not want you informed. It is a clear example of how data centers have become an easy boogeyman in Arizona: blamed for every hard problem through bad-faith arguments, selective facts, and flawed logic. To be clear: there is a legitimate debate over whether Arizona should offer tax incentives to data centers. Government should be careful about picking winners and losers. But Arizona’s data center tax policy is not “robbery.” It is not a blank check. And it is not the reason Arizona families are struggling with rising housing, health care, food costs, or the overall cost of living. Claiming that repealing this incentive would somehow fix everything from housing to health care to hunger is, at best, unserious and, at worst, deliberately misleading. Let’s correct the record line by line. 🧵

Arizona added 8,100 jobs in April, but the bigger story is how flat the state’s labor market has become. After seven straight months of year-over-year job losses, Arizona returned to positive annual growth but at just 0.41% — a sign the labor market may be stabilizing, but still remains unusually weak (as it has been for 2+ years). Learn more: bit.ly/4v5IEDP

Yes, communities should have input and be able to ask questions about projects in their neighborhoods, including data centers. However, the claim that Arizona’s major data center projects are lining up to use 1–1.5 million gallons of water per day does not reflect reality here. The major projects you see in the news in Tucson, Marana, Glendale, and Chandler use air-cooling or closed-loop systems, which use significantly less water than older data center designs. In fact, many are either water-positive, meaning they put more water into the system than they take out, or they use less water than the site currently uses or than alternative land uses, like farming. The same goes for power. Our utilities have been clear: growth pays for growth. These projects are already backed by agreements that require data centers to pay for the power and infrastructure they require, not everyday ratepayers. So yes, review every project carefully. But let’s skip the outdated talking points and debate each project on its actual merits. Debating the real numbers, the real water plans, and the real power plans is how Arizona can keep growing while protecting the communities that make growth possible.

A few things. The ASU study found a localized effect generally detectable within about 1,700 feet of the facilities, not a Valley-wide temperature shift. It measured just four facilities, describes the findings as “initial observations,” and says more study is needed. It was also not designed to fully isolate other major urban heat variables such as pavement, parking lots, transportation, tree canopy, irrigation, or surrounding land use — the same kinds of variables that Phoenix researchers have repeatedly identified as primary drivers of the Valley’s urban heat island effect. Notably, the study found that irrigated, treed green space near one facility actually appeared to create a cooling effect downwind, which researchers suggested could serve as a mitigation measure. Even the paper notes that exhaust height, discharge angle, equipment density, and landscaping can substantially reduce thermal impacts. So this is not an argument against data centers. It’s proof that siting, buffering, and engineering matter.

What’s behind Arizona’s reliability? A balanced system. Nuclear provides steady 24/7 power. Natural gas adds flexibility when demand rises. That combination helps keep energy stable and dependable. Arizona is doing it better. azchamber.com/poweringourfut…

Arizona’s housing crisis didn’t happen overnight, and while many place blame on the rise of short-term rentals across the state, the data shows that is not actually the case. So how did we get here? CSI has the facts ⬇️ 🧵 azcapitoltimes.com/news/2026/05/0…

This is exactly what happens when some of the misinformation we’ve been hearing starts shaping the debate over data centers. As even the article notes, many of these projects are using less water than current or alternative uses, paying for their own power and infrastructure, and bringing major investment, tax revenue, and jobs to Arizona. That doesn’t mean every project is good or that every concern is fake. But we should be able to have a calmer, more fact-based conversation about what these projects actually do, what they actually cost, and what they actually deliver. Also worth noting: the poll frames the question around AI, which we already know people have reservations about. Data centers don’t just power AI. They support streaming, online shopping, remote work, and yes, the platform you’re using right now.