Arizona Data Center Intel

Recent Arizona data center news

• Mar 12, 2026

  Fossil generation could rise with faster-than-expected growth in data center power demand

  The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published an analysis showing that faster-than-expected electricity demand growth driven by data centers could increase natural gas and coal generation and raise wholesale electricity prices.

  • Main analysis and assumptions: The EIA produced a high demand growth scenario in which 2026 and 2027 growth rates are 50% higher than the February STEO in data-center-heavy regions, while other regions are +1 percentage point above STEO; the scenario assumes no additional generating capacity beyond the February STEO and applies an assumed +$0.50/MMBtu increase in natural gas delivered prices across regions.
  • Key modeled outcomes and metrics: Under the scenario, natural gas generation rises to +7.3% (123 BkWh) between 2025–2027 (vs 1.7% baseline), coal generation declines by 5.0% (37 BkWh) nationwide in the high case, and ERCOT 2027 wholesale prices model +$37/MWh above the February STEO (excluding ERCOT the average 2027 wholesale price is +$2.10/MWh above the STEO forecast of $48/MWh).
• Mar 11, 2026

  Kelly Outlines His Vision For AI Regulation

  Sen. Mark Kelly has proposed the “AI Horizon Fund” to pool contributions from data center companies to pay for electrical infrastructure upgrades and increased capacity.

  • Main action: The Senator presented his AI Horizon Fund proposal at the Brookings Institution on March 11, 2026, calling for data center companies to pool funds to pay for electrical infrastructure improvements and increased capacity so ratepayers don’t bear increased costs; he referenced his “AI For America” white paper (released last September) as the starting point for Senate AI regulation.
  • Context and details: Kelly highlighted community pushback in Arizona over data centers’ energy and water use, noting requests to use the energy equivalent of 50,000 homes; he also criticized President Donald Trump’s “Rate Payer Protection Pledge” as effectively a “handshake deal”, and referenced a post on X about those concerns.
• Mar 11, 2026

  General Assembly Budget Conferees Need to Invest in Quality of Life, Not Big Tech

  The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) has called on Virginia lawmakers to eliminate or substantially limit the sales tax credit on data center equipment to redirect revenue to public services.

  • Main action: PEC submitted a letter to General Assembly leadership and budget conferees requesting elimination or phased reduction of the sales tax exemption on data center equipment, arguing the exemption cost more than $1.9 billion in FY2025 and could have raised state revenue from $31.2 billion to $33.1 billion if collected. The letter identifies priorities for redirected revenue: water supply and wastewater treatment, transportation and transit, schools, childcare, and food security.
  • Background and details: PEC cites Dominion Energy data that it is receiving requests for ~10 additional data center applications monthly totaling 2–3 GW, bringing cumulative demand to 70 GW, while current peak demand is 24 GW with >36% electricity imports. PEC estimates Dominion will need to invest over $100 billion in generation, transmission and substation infrastructure (including nearly $30 billion for transmission) to meet the backlog over the next ten years.
• Mar 11, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - March 10, 2026

  EESI will host a briefing on energy efficiency with the Alliance to Save Energy on March 12 to highlight cost-effective measures for households and small businesses.

  • Main announcement: EESI and the Alliance to Save Energy will hold a briefing Strategies to Lower Utility Bills Now for Households and Small Businesses on Thursday, March 12, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., in the Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online (RSVP link available). The event focuses on energy efficiency solutions for households and small businesses and invites expert panelists to discuss readily-available measures.
  • Background and other details: EESI published a Climate Jobs fact sheet citing >4 million climate jobs in 2024 and a 2.8% growth rate in clean energy jobs; it also promoted the 29th annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO on June 24 (Rayburn Foyer and Gold Room, 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., online option). The newsletter summarizes recent congressional activity on bills including S.2245 (Digital Coast Act extension), H.R.755 (Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025), H.R.390 (ACERO Act), and H.R.2600 (ASCEND Act), and notes hearings that focused on the electric grid and data centers.
• Mar 11, 2026

  EdgeCore Returns With Revised Mesa Data Center Plan

  EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure has returned to Mesa’s Planning and Zoning Board to seek approval for a revised, scaled-back Mesa North Campus site plan.

  • Main action: EdgeCore is seeking approval on March 11, 2026 for a reduced site plan that cuts the previously approved 2.1 million-square-foot expansion down to two buildings totaling 1,236,960 square feet (roughly 800,000 sq ft less). The reduction follows an SRP infrastructure requirement that led to removal of the southernmost planned building and accommodation of an SRP switchyard/substation on the property. The revised plan, if recommended by the Planning and Zoning Board, will advance to the Mesa City Council; construction timing will depend on available power and is expected to be delivered in phases.
  • Background and details: EdgeCore previously announced the Mesa expansion on Jan. 4, 2024 after securing $1.9 billion in financing (MUFG as administrative agent; led by TD Securities, ING Capital LLC, Scotiabank, Santander and MUFG). EdgeCore later acquired 43.87 acres for $43.95 million (May 2025) to support planned capacity of more than 450 megawatts; the full campus includes an original 180,000-square-foot data center and two buildings under construction (identified as PH02 and PH03). The site is described as a secure technology park with reliable power, dense fiber, and high-efficiency cooling systems designed for low water use.
• Mar 10, 2026

  US solar installations down in 2025 after Trump policies jolt market, report says

  The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie published a study showing US new solar installations fell to 43 GW in 2025, down from nearly 50 GW in 2024.

  • Study finding and causes:43 GW installed in 2025 versus nearly 50 GW in 2024; utility-scale solar installations declined 16% and community solar declined 25% in 2025. The report attributes the disruption to policy changes under the Trump administration, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the scrapping of subsidies and tax breaks for renewable developers, and a freeze on approvals for major projects. Top states: Texas added 11 GW, followed by Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Utah and Arkansas.
  • Background and projections: The report notes solar and energy storage accounted for 79% of new capacity additions in the first year of the Trump administration, with more than two-thirds of installations in states won by him. It projects the US will add 490 GW of new solar capacity by 2036, taking cumulative installed capacity to nearly 770 GW. Key spokespersons: Darren Van’t Hof (SEIA interim President and CEO) and Michelle Davis (head of solar, Wood Mackenzie).
• Mar 9, 2026

  Johnson Camp Mine Produces First Copper Using Rio Tinto’s Nuton Technology

  Rio Tinto announced that its Nuton venture produced first copper at the Johnson Camp Mine using its proprietary leaching technology.

  • Main announcement: Nuton “produced its first copper at Johnson Camp using its proprietary leaching technology” (Rio Tinto Dec. 4 release); the Johnson Camp deployment is a commercial-scale, four-year Nuton phase targeting ~30,000 tons of copper cathode over the period and claiming a mine-to-metal carbon footprint of 0.82 kilograms CO2-equivalent per kilogram of copper, with the process said to use up to 80% less water and generate up to 60% lower GHG emissions vs conventional routes.
  • Background and related details: Johnson Camp is owned by Gunnison Copper in Cochise County (south of Willcox); Rio Tinto announced a two-year agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Jan. 15 to supply low-carbon Nuton copper to AWS component manufacturers and to receive cloud/analytics support; Nuton also made a $30.5 million payment to advance the Yerington Copper Project, and Nuton/Arizona Sonoran terminated their option on the Cactus Project.
• Mar 6, 2026

  President Trump Issues ‘Rate Payer Protection Pledge’ Proclamation

  President Trump signed the “Rate Payer Protection Pledge” proclamation requiring hyperscalers and large tech firms to supply on-site energy and pay for necessary grid infrastructure upgrades to prevent electricity rate hikes for ratepayers.

  • Main action: The proclamation, first announced at the State of the Union, was signed with executives from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI committing to provide on-site energy and cover costs of grid upgrades to avoid passing electricity rate increases to consumers.
  • Background and context: Experts warned of capacity shortfalls and long interconnection/permitting timelines (example: “5 years” in the interconnection queue plus additional permitting time), making it unlikely new generation can meet data center demand by 2027–2028; the proclamation is nonbinding (no force of law) and Sen. Mark Kelly described it as effectively a “handshake deal”.
• Mar 6, 2026

  Tucson’s Phantom Space Acquires Vector Launch Assets and Intellectual Property, Accelerating Daytona Launch Vehicle Development

  Phantom Space Corp. has announced it acquired Vector Launch Inc.’s assets and intellectual property and will integrate those technologies into its Daytona small-launch vehicle.

  • Acquisition announced by Phantom Space Corp.: Phantom acquired Vector Launch’s design elements, engineering data, and proprietary technologies to integrate into the Daytona two-stage small-launch vehicle; financial terms were not disclosed. Phantom said it has completed subsystem testing including hot-fire tests of Daytona propulsion assemblies, will begin integration and qualification work immediately, has stage-level testing and additional milestones scheduled throughout 2026, targets the first Daytona launch for second half of 2027, and plans a Phantom Cloud demonstration mission in Q2 2027.
  • Background and related details: Phantom Space was founded in 2019, is led by cofounders Jim Cantrell and Adam Thompson, currently has about 30 employees and plans to add 20 more this year; separately, Rocket Lab Corp. acquired Optical Support Inc. (OSI), adding 20 employees and retaining OSI’s 22,000-square-foot Tucson facility at 1661 S. Research Loop. Both announcements were reported via company press releases.
• Mar 4, 2026

  NTT DATA’s Quiet Surge: Hyperscale Wins, AI Partnerships, and Private 5G Push Signal Expanding Influence in the AI Infrastructure Era

  NTT DATA announced nearly 115 MW of new data center capacity commitments across multiple U.S. campuses as part of a broader platform strategy linking hyperscale infrastructure, enterprise cloud transformation, and edge AI.

  • Major announcement: NTT DATA secured nearly 115 MW of new capacity commitments across campuses in Gainesville (VA11, Northern Virginia), Chicago (IL), and Sacramento (CA) on March 3; those deals include >90 MW from a major hyperscale provider at VA11 and nearly 20 MW from three enterprise customers (financial services, gaming, cybersecurity). The company previously disclosed >130 MW of hyperscale commitments in December 2025 (Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Northern Virginia), bringing the two announcements to ~250 MW of announced hyperscale commitments.
  • Background and additional details: NTT DATA has opened 10 new data centers, added >370 MW of IT capacity, and committed over $10 billion in infrastructure investment through 2027. The company also announced a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS (dedicated AWS Business Group ~11,000 certified experts, plans to certify ~10,000 more) and a private 5G partnership with Ericsson, including a global private 5G rollout with Cargill across 50 sites. Other facts: acquisition of Zero&One (Dubai) to strengthen Middle East cloud consulting; recognition as Global Top Employer 2026.