BUCKEYE, Ariz — The Valley continues to position itself as a hub for AI data centers. The City of Buckeye is the latest to announce the planned construction of a new complex.
The campus in the southwest portion of the city would be equivalent to the size of about 1,600 football fields.
A Denver-based company, Tract, announced its plans to construct the campus. They say that after full build-out over the course of 7-15 years, the data center will have the capacity to consume 1.8 gigawatts of power, which is more than two times the amount of energy expended by all households in the City of Phoenix.
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Power consumption is expected to skyrocket in the coming years in Arizona, thanks to planned data centers
There is ongoing debate about energy and water consumption associated with the facilities. Critics question whether they are worth the time and resources compared to the amount of jobs they actually produce.
As 12News recently reported Arizona ranks second nationally for data centers, with more than 80. Some have their own power substations and cooling facilities.
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