Chandler council to decide fate of AI data center backed by Sinema
The Chandler City Council is expected to vote on an AI data center Dec. 11 after former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema lobbied the council for months.
- Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is lobbying for a controversial AI data center in Chandler.
- The project faces opposition from some city officials and residents over concerns about water and energy use.
- Sinema warned the city that the federal government could approve the project if the City Council does not.
- Developers state the project is a $2.5 billion investment that will create nearly 1,000 permanent jobs.
A controversial data center and tech park project has landed in front of the Chandler City Council after reports that former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been lobbying in favor of the project for months.
New York-based Active Infrastructure seeks to build an artificial intelligence data center in the Price Road corridor. The project, dubbed the Price Road Innovation Campus, would be the 11th data center in the corridor.
During an Oct. 15 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, city officials expressed concern over the project’s design and the lack of jobs created. Residents gave mixed reviews, but some were optimistic that a new project would breathe life into a vacant building.
But Sinema took center stage, giving a bleak warning to the commission and City Council the following day: “Federal preemption is coming.”
Sinema added she was “hand in glove” with the Trump administration on matters related to AI. She said that if the city didn’t approve the nearly 423,000-square-foot data center located at Dobson and Price roads, the federal government would do it for them.
Councilmember OD Harris did not take the warning lightly.
“I will not accept erroneous claims that the federal government ‘preempts’ cities on this kind of land-use decision,” he wrote on Facebook on Oct. 28. “Chandler has already adopted policies that discourage new data centers and protect critical resources like water and energy for projects that truly grow our economy. As proposed, this development does not meet that standard, and I cannot support it.”
Harris said on Dec. 9 that he stood by his comments.
According to emails obtained by The Arizona Republic, the city received 11 emails before the meeting: three in support, two posing questions and seven opposing the project. Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 2, though, the city received 29 emails with only one in support of the project, sent by the Arizona Technology Council.
Harris said when he last checked, the city had received more than 100 emails in opposition.
One resident said the reporting of Sinema’s comments alerted her to the project, one resident said.
“I … have no interest in being threatened by the former senator on behalf of the Trump administration,” Ashley Hope wrote to the Chandler mayor and council Oct. 28.
Behind closed doors, Sinema has been lobbying for the data center since at latest June, according to records obtained by The Republic and first reported in the Phoenix New Times.
Chandler spokesperson Matthew Burdick said that the city does not require lobbyists to register with them. He added that the city retains emails for 180 days, so any communication prior to June was not provided.
Sinema has dedicated herself to AI advocacy, among other causes, since her U.S. Senate term expired. She joined lobbying firm Hogan Lovells in March where her “extensive experience” in AI and technology allows her to be a “key advocate,” according to her hiring announcement. She also launched the AI Infrastructure Coalition, which is backed by Hogan Lovells, Exxon Mobil, Meta and Microsoft, on the heels of her appearance before the council.
Mayor Kevin Hartke and councilmembers Jennifer Hawkins, Angel Encinas and Matt Orlando did not reply to a request for comment before time of publication.
Vice Mayor Christine Ellis and Councilmember Jane Poston declined to comment.
What is the proposed AI data center?
The 40-acre site is home to a 369,000-square-foot building that has been vacant for six years.
If the Price Road Innovation Campus project is approved, that building would be demolished, and the data center, along with five office buildings ranging from 43,000 square feet to about 71,000 square feet, would take its place.
The data center was expected to be the largest building on the 40-acre site at 422,000 square feet. It would line the western side of the lot.
Tenants for the office buildings had not been identified, but the developer has proposed a tech hub alongside the data center.
The new data center would differ from the other 10 along the Price Corridor. If approved by the City Council, it would be the first AI data center, which would focus more on the intense processing demands of machine learning and AI models.
The project was approved 5-1 by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, with commission chairman and former city councilmember Rick Heumann dissenting.
Critiques include water, energy use
Residents, commissioners and councilmembers all brought up concerns that the AI data center would demand too much energy, emit a disrupting “buzz” or humming sound and create few jobs.
Harris and city planners also pointed out that the data center does not align with the voter-approved city’s general plan, which reserves the Price Road Corridor for “high-value employers.” Planners questioned whether a significant number of permanent jobs would be created due to the project.
Sinema acknowledged the project didn’t fall within the general plan’s vision for the Price Road Corridor but said nobody could have predicted the AI boom. She likened the “AI revolution” to the rapid growth of the semiconductor industry and said Chandler is poised to be at the forefront.
Adam Baugh, the land-use attorney for the project, pushed back against the claims that the development doesn’t fit the parameters of the general plan, saying that it is a $2.5 billion investment that would create nearly 1,000 permanent jobs.
He also pushed back against claims that the data center would guzzle water and use too much energy.
Active Infrastructure agreed to only use a one-inch water meter, similar to what you would see in an office or commercial building, Baugh said. He also said the center would be air-cooled and use a closed-loop system.
Baugh added that Active Infrastructure “and no one else” would pay SRP $242 million to produce the power for the data center.
But that didn’t quell concerns over energy usage. Many critics noted that data centers use a lot of water, a scarce resource in Arizona, and electricity, a resource that has recently seen rate hikes.
“Our quality of life … depends on you,” wrote Carol Saker, a Chandler resident.
The Chandler City Council is scheduled to vote on the data center Dec. 11.
Lauren De Young covers transportation and the cities of Tempe and Chandler for The Republic. Reach her at ldeyoung@azcentral.com.
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