Andrew Christiansen is KGUN 9's Catalina Foothills reporter. Send your story ideas to Andrew at andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com.
As plans continue to move forward for the proposed Project Blue data center on Tucson ’s southeast side near the Pima County Fairgrounds, opposition is growing over Tucson Electric Power’s interest in supplying electricity to the facility.
Although the Tucson City Council initially rejected the project, developer Beale Infrastructure is continuing efforts to acquire the land and advance the proposal.On Tuesday, about 30 members of the No Desert Data Center Coalition gathered in downtown Tucson to voice concerns about the project and TEP’s request to participate.“It’s incredibly frustrating and enraging,” said coalition member Lee Ziesche, who joined others calling on state regulators to stop the project.Another protestor, Glenda Avalos, argued that “companies like TEP continue to profit off our community.”TEP recently asked the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve an energy-supply agreement for the first phase of Project Blue. According to the utility company, commission staff have already recommended the agreement for approval, with a formal vote expected on December 3.Ziesche and other coalition members have traveled to Phoenix urging commissioners to reject the proposal.“Even though the people of Tucson said no to Amazon’s harmful Project Blue data center, TEP and Beale, the developers, are still trying to shove it down our throats,” Ziesche said. “We’re urging them to stand with the people of Tucson, not big tech and not a for-profit corporate utility.”Beale Infrastructure said Project Blue would be powered entirely by solar energy. TEP confirmed it would use a combination of its existing resources, additional solar generation, and energy-storage systems to support the data center if approved.But protestors argue the facility would still place a heavy burden on the environment.“This data center will be contributing to the climate crisis. It will be using a massive amount of energy,” Ziesche said.TEP insists that its involvement would not affect customer rates or reliability. The utility said moving ahead with Project Blue would actually lead to lower rates than if the project were canceled.Avalos said protestors are skeptical: “There hasn’t been anything that has been on a contract signed, and so these are just hearsays or maybe just empty promises.”TEP maintains it would use environmentally responsible practices, noting that many are already part of its operations. Protestors, however, dispute that characterization.“TEP is not an environmentally friendly company regularly,” Ziesche said.If the Arizona Corporation Commission approves TEP’s request, the utility said it expects to begin supplying electricity to the Project Blue site by May 1, 2027.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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