MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ — A small sign sits right next to the mailbox at Beth Mortensen’s house in the West Valley. It reads “Stop Baccara” in bold black letters at the top.
“So the project site is 2,000 feet away, it’s just at the end of my road, on the other end of the orchard there,” Mortensen said.
“Project Baccara” is a new development being proposed by Takanock LLC, a company based in Michigan. The project would place two data centers as well as natural gas generators to power them on a large parcel of county land just north of Luke Air Force Base.
Arizona has quickly become a hub for data centers in the U.S., with over 100 operating just in Maricopa County. The number of data centers being built has increased as power-hungry AI becomes more widely used.
Many entrepreneurs have celebrated Arizona becoming a technology hub, but others have become concerned about the environmental impact data centers have. In 2025, major projects in Tucson and Chandler were denied after community pushback.
Now in the new year, “Project Baccara” is the latest project that is the target of community pushback, as people in the West Valley have done more than just place signs in their yards. An online petition opposing the project is nearing 5,000 signatures, while a Facebook group named “Project Baccara Opposition” has over 1,000 members.
“Hopefully our lawmakers and those that are elected are paying attention to what’s going on,” April Butler said.
Data centers on their own use a lot of power, as APS has said, data centers can use as much energy as 500 big box stores. Project Baccara has proposed on-site generation to alleviate that strain, but that plan has only brought more environmental concerns to the community.
“We don’t know the second, third-order effects of having that so near to our homes,” Melissa Parsons said.
Despite the pushback, data centers are already common across the Valley. More than 100 are currently operating in Maricopa County, supporting everything we do online.
The Arizona Technology Council is backing Project Baccara, arguing that data centers are critical to Arizona’s growing tech economy.
“Let’s capture the benefits, and keep growing, and keep making Arizona the number one tech hub in the United States of America.” Cepand Alizadeh said.
Alizadeh says the benefits include thousands of both construction and permanent jobs at the currently operating and proposed data centers. He stresses that the jobs provided can often go to Arizona students.
“The Glendale Community College, Estrella Mountain Community College; they have a data center academy at those schools,” Alizadeh said.
The developer, Takanock LLC, has held multiple in-person community information sessions regarding Project Baccara and has a portal on the project’s website for people to submit questions online. They provided the following statement to ABC15 on the growing community concerns:
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“In addition to hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars of new and needed tax revenue for public schools, our project will strengthen the reliability of the local electric grid even while lowering retail utility bills for residential customers. We continue to educate and respond to neighbor questions with public meetings, thorough website information, and direct outreach, and are confident our excellent compatibility with the surrounding area ensures this much-needed project will earn community support.”
A representative for the project added in an email saying they expect the Arizona Corporation Commission to discuss their project at an open meeting in February and are also continuing the process with Maricopa County to get a “Military Compatibility Permit” due to the close proximity to the base.
“AI and technology, it is only going to grow in importance,” Alizadeh said. “My hopes are that we can keep building these facilities in our state.”
Neighbors near the proposed site ultimately say they’re not opposed to technology or development, but believe this project is in the wrong place.
“We are pro-development in our house, in our life. I just don’t feel like this is the right location for it,” said Beth Mortensen, who lives nearby.
If approved, Takanock LLC’s posted timeline says construction could begin as early as this fall.
