From Desert to Digital: Arizona’s Data Center Story

Eric?

Yeah, let's talk a little bit about those locations.

So what are the key considerations when someone's looking, you're trying to find a place to put a data center in rural communities versus urban areas, and how do you look at how that decision shapes local outcomes? I'll let...

Colton go first with that one, I guess.

Sure.

That actually happens to be my day job.

So, you know, it is the most important factor is power availability and whether that is redeveloping a brownfield location in a developed area or whether that is Greenfield in a more remote location.

The single most important thing, aside from power for us, is understanding what a community's objectives are.

And that is not just like how they want a facility to look and how they want it to operate.

But more importantly, what is their vision for growth? Are they looking for tax revenues? Are they looking for employment base? Are they looking for stable, reliable funding for schools and fire departments? Every community has different objectives.

And yeah, I don't like to think of it as, you know, rural versus urban.

Everybody has needs, and it's a matter of figuring out what they are and, you know, how we can fit into them.

Let's go to Sapan next.

Sapan, you're out in these communities, counties across the state advocating for data center siting and so on.

What are you seeing and hearing in the communities, the point Colton was making.

Colton made an excellent point.

These community members who show up at these planning and zoning commission meetings, board meetings, county supervisor meetings, city council meetings, they want to know, you know, what the data center is going to be bringing.

They want to know the number of jobs that They want to know the energy usage and they want to know the water usage.

And what I always advocate or I always say is, you know, to the residents, please don't just rely on what you hear or what you read in a Facebook page or on Nextdoor or on Reddit.

If you have questions, please go to the developer.

These developers have staff who are ready to answer questions, who have fact sheets, who have data.

They have histories of, you know, making successful projects both in Arizona and out of Arizona.

So it's just we just need to have a more of a dialogue instead of just.

rumors and questions and things like that.

But residents want to know those key facts.

Eric?

Yeah, let's talk a little bit about those locations.

So what are the key considerations when someone's looking, you're trying to find a place to put a data center in rural communities versus urban areas, and how do you look at how that decision shapes local outcomes? I'll let...

Colton go first with that one, I guess.

Sure.

That actually happens to be my day job.

So, you know, it is the most important factor is power availability and whether that is redeveloping a brownfield location in a developed area or whether that is Greenfield in a more remote location.

The single most important thing, aside from power for us, is understanding what a community's objectives are.

And that is not just like how they want a facility to look and how they want it to operate.

But more importantly, what is their vision for growth? Are they looking for tax revenues? Are they looking for employment base? Are they looking for stable, reliable funding for schools and fire departments? Every community has different objectives.

And yeah, I don't like to think of it as, you know, rural versus urban.

Everybody has needs, and it's a matter of figuring out what they are and, you know, how we can fit into them.

Let's go to Sapan next.

Sapan, you're out in these communities, counties across the state advocating for data center siting and so on.

What are you seeing and hearing in the communities, the point Colton was making.

Colton made an excellent point.

These community members who show up at these planning and zoning commission meetings, board meetings, county supervisor meetings, city council meetings, they want to know, you know, what the data center is going to be bringing.

They want to know the number of jobs that They want to know the energy usage and they want to know the water usage.

And what I always advocate or I always say is, you know, to the residents, please don't just rely on what you hear or what you read in a Facebook page or on Nextdoor or on Reddit.

If you have questions, please go to the developer.

These developers have staff who are ready to answer questions, who have fact sheets, who have data.

They have histories of, you know, making successful projects both in Arizona and out of Arizona.

So it's just we just need to have a more of a dialogue instead of just.

rumors and questions and things like that.

But residents want to know those key facts.