Arizona: data centers & your electric bill
As of October 1, 2026, AI GridWatch tracks 3 data center moratoriums or pushback actions in Arizona: 2 in force, 1 proposed. The state has 190 tracked data center facilities using an estimated 10.5 TWh of electricity a year.
Everything GridWatch tracks in Arizona on one page — proposed projects, moratoriums, permits, officials, and the 2026 ballot.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for Arizona.
As of July 2026 (3m ago) · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
1Proposed data centers in Arizona (4)
1 still live · 3 decided or withdrawn. Each name links to the full dossier — ownership, intelligence log, and where to read the paper trail.
| Project | Where | Size | Behind it | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Osa | Pinal County (near Eloy) | 1,000 MW | Vermaland | Awaiting decision | Source read 2026-08-19 |
| Google Mesa | Mesa | 90 MW | Source read 2026-08-14 | ||
| Microsoft Goodyear | Goodyear | 202 MW | Microsoft | Source read 2026-08-14 | |
| Stream Phoenix | Goodyear | 64 MW | — | Source read 2026-08-14 |
2Pushback already happening in Arizona
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona (tax incentives) | State | Enactedexpires 2029-06-30 | HB 4168 — 3-year moratorium on new data center sales tax exemption applications, signed Jun 13. Saves ~\$57M. Developers submitted 113 applications in the 2 weeks before the pause (nearly as many as in the previous 13 years combined) | SourceNews read 2026-08-13 |
| Pima County | County | Proposedterm not documented | Board voted 3-2 (Cano, Heinz, Allen yes; Scott, Christy no) to direct County Administrator to draft 120-day moratorium resolution on data center approvals. Not yet formally enacted — resolution expected to return to board for final adoption. Prompted by opposition to 'Project Blue' | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
| Hualapai Indian Reservation | Tribal | Enactedno end date — permanent | Tribal Council passed resolution opposing data center construction on reservation land, citing water scarcity on the Colorado River, light pollution, and wastewater concerns. Tribal sovereignty makes this effectively a ban on all reservation land. | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
3Known data center campuses in Arizona
| Operator | Location | Tenant | Filing LLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | Mesa | Meta | Codename shells: Greater Kudu, Raven Northbrook, Stadion, Wobniar, Pinnacle Mountain |
| Microsoft | Goodyear (Greater Phoenix) | Microsoft | Project-name / generic 'Holdings LLC'; less consistently codenamed |
⏳ No verification date recorded · changes over months · Source: Operator ownership & filing-LLC naming patterns — compiled from operator releases and county filings, then checked against SEC EDGAR full-text search. Composite, not a single citation: look the entity up yourself before naming it in a filing
Each row carries its own attribution level — first-party rows come from the operator's own site, but colocation and REIT ownership was compiled from trade press and never passed an independent fact-check. Check the attribution column before citing a row.
4Every data center already built in Arizona
The campuses above are the ones GridWatch tracks by operator and filing LLC. For the full inventory — street addresses of every existing facility, including the smaller colocation and network sites — DataCenterMap keeps a public directory for Arizona.
Browse the Arizona directory →
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
5Case studies
Mesa, AZ — Zoning rules instead of a moratorium: setbacks, height caps, sound study
With 15 data centers built, approved or proposed on roughly 1,500 acres in six years, Mesa's council introduced zoning controls 6–0 and adopted them in July 2025. Data centers are now allowed only where the council specifically authorises a Planned Area Development overlay on industrial land, and each must sit at least 400 feet from residential, stay under 60 feet tall, screen its mechanical equipment, and submit a sound study. Water cooling was argued in council — Councilwoman Jenn Duff pushed to restrict it during drought — but did not make it into the adopted rules. Worth reading as a list of what a council will grant without a moratorium, and what it won't.
6What Arizona's own study found
Arizona Energy Promise Taskforce Report (2026)
Arizona Energy Promise Taskforce (Gov. Katie Hobbs, Executive Order 2025-13)
A 36-member governor's taskforce delivered 31 consensus recommendations on meeting Arizona's fast-growing electricity demand, several aimed squarely at large-load data-center customers.
- Cost-shift protection via the ACC: The taskforce backs the Arizona Corporation Commission's existing large-load process (Docket E-00000A-25-0069) 'to prevent cost shifts, mitigate stranded asset risks, and increase development transparency.'
- Bring-your-own-capacity: It recommends exploring BYOC initiatives so large loads work with utilities to help deliver their own power.
- Tax and financial incentives: It recommends the state 'update tax and financial incentives for large load customers' — news coverage framed this as revisiting the data-center sales-tax exemption, and three members (the Data Center Coalition, Microsoft, and Google) dissented. Cite the taskforce's own softer wording.
- Community engagement: It recommends requiring or incentivizing large-load customers to engage communities and invest in community-identified priorities, and to help local governments navigate large-load development.
- Water: Among overarching recommendations it calls to 'encourage transparent and responsible water use in project development' — notably not framed as a data-center-specific mandate, despite Arizona's water stress.
Read the report · read 2026-08-15
7Your regulator
Arizona Corporation Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA Arizona electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
8Where the Arizona paper trail lives
Air & environmental permits: Arizona DEQ — Air Quality Division
No searchable register. Arizona does not publish a permit database you can query. A public-records request to the agency is the only route to the file.
No organised market. There is no interconnection queue to read here; the utility's own resource plan and the PUC docket are the record.
These are places to look, not evidence that anything has been filed. Links were checked on 2026-08-21; search links are queries, not records.
9Your federal delegation and governor
Grades cross party — this is an issue axis, not a partisan one. A blank grade means no documented action was located, never that the official is neutral.
| Grade | Official | Documented action (sourced) | Reach them |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Katie Hobbs Democratic · Governor | Signed a 3-year pause on new data-center sales-tax breaks and proposed a per-gallon water-user fee. — Arizona data-center tax pause signed by Gov. Hobbs (2026) | site · contact |
| B | Mark Kelly Democratic · Senator · next on the ballot 2028 | Co-signed a letter asking FERC to convene a technical conference on data-center load and affordable rates; previewed legislation to bring communities into siting with enforceable commitments. — Sen. Van Hollen & colleagues call on FERC to ensure affordable service amid data-center demand (2025) Guardrails Kelly signed a February 2025 letter asking FERC to convene a technical conference on data center load and affordable rates, released an "AI for America" roadmap in September 2025 proposing an industry-funded AI Horizon Fund partly to keep electricity costs off households, and in March 2026 previewed legislation to bring communities into data center siting with enforceable commitments and utility-rate protections. sources | site · contact |
| — | Ruben Gallego Democratic · Senator · next on the ballot 2030 | No documented action on data centers located Guardrails Gallego calls data centers a "necessary evil" for AI competition but says residents "should be held harmless" on electricity bills, backs rolling back Arizona's data center tax exemption, and in December 2025 said a hyperscaler drawing heavy load should pay the differential rather than residents and small businesses. sources | site · contact |
| — | David Schweikert Republican · Representative 1 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Elijah Crane Republican · Representative 2 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Yassamin Ansari Democratic · Representative 3 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Greg Stanton Democratic · Representative 4 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Andy Biggs Republican · Representative 5 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Juan Ciscomani Republican · Representative 6 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Adelita S. Grijalva Democratic · Representative 7 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Abraham J. Hamadeh Republican · Representative 8 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Paul A. Gosar Republican · Representative 9 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
Roster: regenerated by scripts/refresh_officials.py (Senate XML + congress-legislators + current governors).
Write to your senators → Your senators in detail → Full officials scorecard → Find your state legislators →
102026 U.S. Senate
Neither Arizona Senate seat is on the 2026 ballot. Your senators are still the people who vote on federal siting and tax policy — their records are in the delegation table above.
112026 U.S. House races in Arizona (9)
A documented data-center record exists in 7 of 9 districts. A candidate with no badge colour has said nothing we could locate — that is a gap in the record, not a neutral position. ★ marks an incumbent.
| District | PVI | Incumbent | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZ-1 | R+1 | David Schweikert | Amish Shah Jay Feely Monica Alponte |
| AZ-2 | R+7 | Eli Crane | Eli Crane ★ Jonathan Nez Curtis Goodwin |
| AZ-3 | D+22 | Yassamin Ansari | Yassamin Ansari ★ Alan Aversa Jacob Parkman (Republican) |
| AZ-4 | D+4 | Greg Stanton | Greg Stanton ★ Zuhdi Jasser Tisha Benoit |
| AZ-5 | R+10 | Andy Biggs | Elizabeth Lee Mark Lamb |
| AZ-6 | EVEN | Juan Ciscomani | JoAnna Mendoza Juan Ciscomani ★ Jereme Peters |
| AZ-7 | D+13 | Adelita Grijalva | Adelita Grijalva ★ Daniel Butierez |
| AZ-8 | R+8 | Abraham Hamadeh | Abraham Hamadeh ★ Bernadette Greene-Placentia |
| AZ-9 | R+15 | Paul Gosar | Paul Gosar ★ Dani Sterbinsky |
The documented records (7 districts)
AZ-2
Eli Crane (Republican) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
AZ-3
Yassamin Ansari (Democratic) · incumbent Guardrails
Cosponsored H.R. 9442 AI Data Center Moratorium Act
- Cosponsored H.R. 9442 (AI Data Center Moratorium Act), which would pause construction of new AI data centers over 20 MW until Congress passes comprehensive AI legislation (2026-09-12 — source)
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-12.
AZ-4
Greg Stanton (Democratic) · incumbent Mixed
Cosponsored Responsible Data Center Siting Act directing DOE to establish siting best practices
- Cosponsored H.R. 10321 (Responsible Data Center Siting Act), directing DOE to establish best practices for data center siting considering energy, water, utility bills, environment, noise, and community impacts (2026-09-08 — source)
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-12.
AZ-6
JoAnna Mendoza (Democratic) Guardrails
Opposes data centers in the desert; cites heat and water impacts
- Stated 'No data centers in the desert. Not right now, not in our district, not in our state'; cites ASU research on 2-4 degree heat emissions from data centers; wants federal action on utility bill protection and water transparency (2026-09-12 — source)
Record read 2026-09-12.
Juan Ciscomani (Republican) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
AZ-7
Adelita Grijalva (Democratic) · incumbent Guardrails
Cosponsored the AI Data Center Moratorium Act and the Data Center Community Impact Act.
- Original cosponsor of H.R. 9442, the AI Data Center Moratorium Act. (2026-06-24 — source)
- Cosponsored H.R. 7858, the Data Center Community Impact Act. (2026-03-06 — source)
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-12.
AZ-8
Abraham Hamadeh (Republican) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
AZ-9
Paul Gosar (Republican) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
12Latest Arizona data center news
No Arizona data-center headlines in this week's national scan — local coverage often runs ahead of it.
Search live Arizona data center news → GridWatch news feed →
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State municipal league: League of Arizona Cities and Towns