$33B data center development in Pinal County clears key hurdle

Article originally posted on AZ Central on November 21, 2025

A $33 billion data center development proposed in Pinal County, planned for about 3,300 acres, is moving forward.

The Pinal County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a major amendment to its land use plan to allow employment and general public facilities on the site, which is undeveloped.

Vermaland is proposing a data center development near Eloy that could bring up to three gigawatts of capacity to the site. The project would bring more capacity than the Valley’s existing total of data center storage. Data center capacity is measured in power consumption.

The irregularly shaped site stretches from Baumgartner Road past Sasco Road along the Greene Canal near Eloy. At the meeting, Court Rich, the attorney representing the development, said the site is ideal for a data center project because it sits along existing electrical and gas transmission lines, both of which will be needed to power the data center.

Part of the project will include a utility-scale solar facility with battery storage and a gas-fired power plant that would generate some of the energy needed to operate the large data center facilities.

Rich said because of regulations involving power generation, the electrical district plans to take possession of the energy generated on the site and sell it back to the development for its use. The site is adjacent to two large-scale solar projects, including one also owned by Vermaland, Verma said in July when first announcing the plans.

Eight people spoke at the Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting regarding the project. Three opposed the project and five favored it.

Opponents said they are concerned that data centers use disproportionate amounts of energy and water and don’t create a strong enough return in jobs and economic activity to make the use worth it.

At the meeting, Rich said he expects the county to stipulate in the later rezoning cases that the development will not be allowed to use a water-cooling system and instead would be required to be air-cooled. Air-cooled facilities use considerably less water than older, water-cooled data centers. EdgeCore’s data center in Mesa is closed-loop and air-cooled.

About 1,000 permanent jobs are expected to be created at the project, Rich said. The five who spoke in favor included people who own land adjacent to the site, who said they have been impressed with Verma keeping them well informed of the plans. Jeff Heaton, the chief of the Arizona City Fire District, also spoke in favor of the project, saying it will allow the district to expand fire and life safety service to remote areas near the development that have little access to services by adding infrastructure and generating tax dollars.

The comprehensive plan amendment precedes rezoning to allow the new development, which is still required. Once that is approved, the first phase will be able to start early construction work, but it will likely take years before any construction can begin.

At the end of 2024, Arizona had 804 megawatts of existing data center inventory and about 1,004 megawatts, or roughly one gigawatt, under construction, according to research done by real estate firm JLL.

One gigawatt of power is enough to power a small city, or more than 200,000 homes.