A massive data center campus project spanning nearly 300 acres in Pima County appears almost certainly to be linked to the online retail giant Amazon.
What has been publicly called Project Blue has been characterized as four large data center facilities that will cost around $3.6 billion to complete, with the first of the centers expected to be operable sometime in 2027.
The project has sparked intense opposition among residents and community activists particularly concerned about the amount of water that would be required to maintain the facilities. Vivek Bharathan, an organizer with a group called No Desert Data Center, remarked in an interview that the desert “is no place for a water-guzzling, energy-draining, heat-generating monster.”
Last month it was revealed that the developer of the project, Beale Infrastructure of Dallas, along with the utility company Tucson Electric Power, had filed a special request with the regulator Arizona Corporation Commission to secure energy for the first phase of the project.
Documents submitted to that body additionally disclosed that Tucson Electric Power will provide the project upwards of 286 megawatts of capacity by 2028.
Now a new report published by the site Arizona Luminaria says an earlier non-disclosure agreement entered by Pima County stipulated that the involvement of what is called Amazon Web Services would remain a secret for at least five years, or until Project Blue was built.
Responding to the report, Amazon Web Services has said it had conducted a routine due diligence process in Arizona, like its approach for any location where it considering building.
In a statement, the company remarked that it would “continue to assess all potential geographic regions to ensure our data center developments provide the best possible product and value for our customers, while bringing positive benefits to the local communities where we operate.”
While Beale Infrastructure has not publicly said anything about the project belonging to Amazon, the company three weeks ago said it was proceeding with Project Blue, while at the same time announcing that a revised version of the facility would put a greater emphasis on sustainability, using what is known as a closed-loop air cooling system that will consume no water.
In a communication with Pima County, Beale said the alternative system “makes use of small amounts of water that are continuously recirculated, thereby eliminating water loss and the need to consume water for industrial purposes.”
October 9, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
