A proposed data center development that would have been among the largest in the US is being dramatically reduced in size after facing widespread opposition from residents in Arizona’s Pinal County.
Developer Vermaland LLC announced plans to scale back its La Osa data center and energy campus near Eloy by roughly 80%, reducing the project from 59 planned data center buildings to 11 facilities. The move came during a public hearing before the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, where residents voiced concerns about the project’s potential impact on energy usage and the surrounding desert environment.
Originally proposed across approximately 3,300 acres, the La Osa facility was designed as a massive data center hub supported by dedicated energy infrastructure. Plans included two on-site natural gas-fired power plants and a utility-scale battery energy storage system to provide power.
After facing opposition, the revised proposal will cap power demand at 1 gigawatt. While far smaller than earlier plans, that level of electricity consumption remains hefty. A one-gigawatt load is roughly equivalent to the continuous power usage of hundreds of thousands of homes.
Further Consideration in Late August
Public response to the project has been overwhelmingly negative. County officials reported receiving numerous public comments and emails opposing the proposal. Critics pointed to concerns about infrastructure strain, environmental preservation, and the long-term consequences of data center expansion in rural areas.
During the hearing, attorney Court Rich, representing Vermaland, told county officials that the owner had decided the project no longer needed to be built at its originally envisioned scale. The reduction, he said, would bring the development closer to the size of a conventional data center campus.
Residents who spoke during the hearing argued that the county should move cautiously before approving such a massive project. Several raised concerns about environmental impacts and voiced doubt about whether safeguards had been established to protect local resources.
Data center development has become particularly sensitive in Arizona, where water availability remains a primary concern. Project representatives said that La Osa will not rely on traditional water-intensive cooling systems. Instead, the development is expected to use alternative cooling technologies, including air-based cooling methods or closed-loop systems to minimize water consumption.
Following the hearing, the Board of Supervisors voted to delay action on the project’s rezoning request, giving Vermaland additional time to revise its plans and submit more detailed information. The matter is expected to return for further consideration in late August.
Bottom line, the La Osa project demonstrates how local opposition can reshape even the most ambitious data center developments before construction begins.
