‘We have the power to stop them’: Dozens protest as construction of Project Blue data center begins

PIMA COUNTY, Ariz. – Dozens of protesters gathered at the site of the proposed Beale Infrastructure's Project Blue on Friday morning to speak out against the construction of the data center south of Tucson near the Pima County Fairgrounds. 

Large construction vehicles have started razing the desert to make way for the data center, despite wide opposition from Southern Arizona residents. Organizers have shown up in force to local government meetings and submitted comments to the Arizona Corporation Commission to speak out against the project, citing environmental concerns like large water use and high electricity use. 

Protesters arrived at the Project Blue site at 7 a.m. Friday. They held signs that read, “Protect our desert. Fund people’s needs, not TEP,” “Stop Project Blue,” “Not one drop for data” and a blunt, handwritten “We said no!!” 

In an attempt to physically slow down the project, protesters a few times stood in front of the construction company's vehicles, blocking them from leaving the site. At one point, five Pima County Sheriff's cars showed up and deputies pushed protesters out of the way to let the trucks through. 

"Say it loud, say it clear! Project Blue isn’t welcome here!” the protesters chanted. Drivers occasionally honked at the crowd as they passed by. 

A months-long ongoing fight against Project Blue

Organized by the No Desert Data Center Coalition, the protest was the latest action in a long fight against Project Blue. That fight started last summer, the day before the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a land sale to Beale Infrastructure. At the June 17 supervisors meeting, Logan Craig, vice president of development for Beale Infrastructure, said if the city didn’t annex the property, “we will not be closing on the land per the contract. So it’ll remain county-owned property.”

“That’s what we understood we had to do… stop the city from annexing the land and we did,” said Vivek Bharathan, an organizer with the No Desert Data Center Coalition. “But Beale lied.”

Last summer, Tucson City Council voted against annexing the property, effectively blocking Beale from using Tucson Water for the data center. Organizers against the project saw that decision as a huge win, only to be disheartened when Beale worked with Tucson Electric Power to push the project forward, going to the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve a new deal.

“We're just really devastated that it's gotten to this point… when the City Council voted the deal down,” Bharathan said. “We really believed that we had protected our community, protected the water, protected the land and now we're here and they're killing living desert and we have shown up throughout all of the public processes and I don't know what else we're expected to do.”

Reed Spurling, a member of the coalition who helped organize the protest, said Project Blue threatens to drive up electric and water bills and is destroying the land to make way for data centers that “no one in Tucson wants built.” 

“We will continue fighting until we stop this data center,” Spurling said. “Projects like these are not inevitable. We have the power to stop them.”

Spurling said the Pima County Board of Supervisors betrayed its residents by making secretive deals with Beale and approving the land sale. 

“Rex Scott, Matt Heinz and Steve Christy on the board of supervisors betrayed us,” they said, referring to the three supervisors who voted to approve the land sale. “And I hope today is the beginning of the end of their political careers. They're not working for us. They are working for big tech and they're handing over the riches of Pima County to the fossil fuel industry.” 

Beale champions a ‘sustainable’ project; residents remain unconvinced

Beale has repeatedly promoted Project Blue as “sustainable.” 

“Beale’s commitment to pursue 100% renewable energy for its Pima County data center is a significant additional investment and reflects the company’s dedication to sustainable infrastructure development,” the company wrote in its latest news release about Project Blue in November. 

Without direct access to Tucson water for cooling, Beale worked with TEP to come up with an updated design for the data center, according to a September news release on Beale’s website. 

“Beale selected an air cooling technology that uses a closed-loop system. This system uses minimal amounts of water that are continuously recirculated, thereby eliminating water loss and the need to consume water for industrial purposes,” the news release says. 

But organizers are not buying it. Bharathan pointed to TEP’s use of fracked gas to power the region. On its website, TEP outlines its energy use as 50% natural gas, 19% coal, 12% purchased energy from wholesale providers and 19% TEP solar and wind energy. 

Natural gas requires significant water use, according to the Environmental and Energy Institute. 

“In 2022, 40% of all total U.S. annual water withdrawals, or about 48.5 trillion gallons, were made by coal and gas power plants,” an article from the Institute explains. “Of those 48.5 trillion gallons, 962 billion gallons of water were consumed and were no longer available for direct downstream use.”

Lee Ziesche, co-chair of Tucson Democratic Socialists of America, said the reason Beale was able to strike a deal with Tucson Electric Power was because TEP is privately-owned. And the reason the city was able to block Beale’s access to its water is because Tucson Water is a publicly-owned utility. Ziesche urged organizers to join Tucson DSA’s fight for public power in Tucson. 

In the fall, the City of Tucson will vote on a new, 25-year franchise agreement with TEP. Tucson DSA is organizing to stop a new agreement, and pushing for city leaders to make the switch to public power, which studies have shown would reduce resident electric bills over time. 

“I do not think that this project will ever be fully built and running in Southern Arizona,” Ziesche told protesters on Friday. “I truly believe that with all my heart, as hard as that seems right now, and that is because I believe in our power to stop it and I believe in our power to change the system that allowed this.” 

She called on Tucson residents to pressure Tucson City Council to take on TEP and vote down their franchise agreement. 

Bharathan’s frustration was palpable throughout the protest. As he took the mic from Spurling, he paused, took his sunglasses off, shut his eyes tight and wiped away tears, only for more tears to start pooling. He took a deep breath and started talking. 

Earlier that morning, he sang along to Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of.” “F- You, I won’t do what you tell me!” Bharathan sang, getting louder with every repetition. Other protesters joined him. Then, he faced the construction site and screamed, a sense of relief washing over him.

Stephanie Casanova is an independent, bilingual journalist from Tucson, Arizona, covering community stories for over 10 years. She is passionate about narrative, in-depth storytelling that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of the communities she covers.