Glendale, Arizona Council Annexes 160 Acres for Data Center and Power Plant Despite Neighbor Opposition

The Glendale City Council has voted to bring a large data center and power plant project inside the city limits, annexing and rezoning about 160 acres near Litchfield Road and Olive Avenue on October 27 despite a year of opposition from people who live near the site.

Dozens of residents urged the council not to incorporate the land. Nearly a dozen spoke at the meeting and many more wrote to the city, and some wore signs reading "VOTE NO BACCARA EAGLE." Gavin Costley told the council, "I didn't sign up for this." April Butler, who lives and works about a mile from the site in Waddell, said residents outside Glendale had no real voice in the decision. "They did what they thought was best for Glendale. They don't have Glendale residents out here. We had no voice really," Butler said.

What the council approved

Project Eagle is the data center part of the plan: three one-story buildings totaling 1.1 million square feet, built by Michigan-based Takanock with Montera, a hyperscale data center developer. Project Baccara is a 700 megawatt natural gas power plant with 18 gas stacks and backup propane storage. A future Arizona Public Service substation will also sit on the site. Councilmember Leandro Baldenegro cast the lone no vote and gave no explanation, the Arizona Republic reported.

Councilmember Dianna Guzman, who represents the part of the city the project joins, said she trusted the experts who reviewed it. "If I believed that this project was going to hurt our community, I don't care how much money it brought into the city, I would vote against it," Guzman said. Councilmember Lupe Conchas said he opposed the overall project but voted yes because of an agreement tied to the vote. The project carries a dozen stipulations, including a developer contribution toward a new fire station near the site, and Conchas pointed to development impact fees of more than nine to ten million dollars for the city.

Why annexation did not decide whether it gets built

Edwin Bull, a lawyer for the landowners, told the council the project would have moved forward either way. Maricopa County cleared the site for construction in May and granted a military compatibility permit because of its closeness to Luke Air Force Base. If Glendale had said no, the developers would have sought site plan approval from the county instead. City development services director Randy Huggins said annexation gives Glendale local oversight of landscaping, fencing and appearance, and he estimated the project will create hundreds of jobs and more than 150 million dollars in direct revenue for the city over a decade. A third-party study shared with the city put annual revenue at 14.4 million dollars, with about 3,000 construction jobs and more than 300 permanent jobs. Huggins said construction was expected to begin in November.

The concerns that remain

Neighbors argued the gas plant will add air pollution across the West Valley and raised safety questions tied to the Air Force base. Butler, who has health issues, worried about both air and water. "We need to really pay attention to what we're using here in Arizona, and we have a limited supply," she said. The developers say the plant uses technology approved by the EPA to limit emissions, and that the project will take no City of Glendale water: Epcor, a private water company, and on-site wells will supply it. An independent study by Matrix New World Engineering, cited by the developers, found no expected impact on local water availability and no noticeable change in noise at nearby homes once the project is complete.