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Kris Mayes targets AI data centers as Arizona faces water, power crunch
Kris Mayes targets AI data centers as Arizona faces water, power crunch. Originally published by Arizona Mirror.
By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy · 2026-09-06T06:30:42.912Z
Photo via Getty Imates Arizona Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes is calling for a statewide pause on new data centers, specifically those aimed at powering artificial intelligence systems, amid rising energy costs and the federal government’s plan to cut 30% of Arizona’s Colorado River supply. “The only sane thing to do is to pause the approval of new data centers,” Mayes said in a written statement. “Data centers are power and water intensive, and Arizona is challenged on both fronts right now.” Mayes also said she is planning to hold a town hall in Ahwatukee on Oct. 14 to hear from members of the community about a planned data center project there. The Menlo Digital hyperscale data center https://menlo digital.com/portfolio/md phx1 phoenix/ is a 38 acre campus featuring a one million square foot data center planned in the Ahwatukee area. It has been facing criticism from locals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8 JznVFFTxc . The company has switched other properties from office space to data centers in other states https://therealdeal.com/san francisco/2026/02/13/menlo equities toggles to data center plan in silicon valley/ and has had its data centers purchased by corporations like Amazon for $65 million https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2026/05/11/amazon mason king prince william menlo equities.html . The rapid construction of giant data centers has become a major point of controversy in Arizona and nationwide. Across the country, politicians and lawmakers are trying to get ahead of the issue https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/26/data centers midterms politicians voters sour 01050143 , as data center popularity continues to diminish ahead of the midterm elections. Locally, high profile data center projects have faced public outlash leading to some of those projects failing to get approval https://www.calonews.com/arizona/arizona county rejects proposed la osa data center but the fight for regulations continues/article f7aea9d7 9c36 46c6 9189 30428f8c9387.html as developers continue to push for the projects https://www.inc.com/divya bhardwaj/she bought 956 arizona acres for 25 million the plan is data centers that use almost no water/91368103 . “Arizona may be one of the most exposed states in the country to the negative impacts of excessive data center development,” Mayes said. “The Colorado River is in serious distress, and Wall Street firms are seeking to ship La Paz County’s groundwater to Phoenix to fuel the Valley’s growth — against the wishes of the county’s residents and leaders. We owe it to our communities, homeowners, and future generations of Arizonans to better manage our water and power needs before any new data center approvals are issued.” Mayes is calling for state lawmakers and Gov. Katie Hobbs to pass legislation to halt data center approvals until the state has a plan to monitor and control their growth. Getting legislative approval for such an idea will likely be an uphill battle. Republican leadership in the Arizona House of Representatives have pushed the past few years for legislation aimed at helping data center power demand by disallowing counties to regulate them and allow the colocation of small modular nuclear reactors, a technology that is largely unproven. That legislation was ultimately vetoed by Hobbs https://azmirror.com/briefs/hobbs vetoes bill to fast track small nuclear reactors at arizona data centers/ . In her announcement, Mayes cited an analysis https://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/drained by data the cumulative impact of data centers on regional water stress by the sustainability non profit Ceres that estimates a more than 450% increase in water demand if all planned data center projects in the greater Phoenix area are built. Mayes also cited an Arizona State University study https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/sustainablebuildings/article/7/2/024501/1233035/Data Center Waste Heat as an Emerging Urban? cf chl tk=BFaCqWoR2toevUrdAkybUhfd2ofZQMA.2.IREkqj88c 1788196436 1.0.1.1 LoSKTj5i1DShPAjfkRqkRunKhLnxLfgjBQq0p0Ex76w that found that data centers can raise nearby neighborhood temperatures by up to four degrees Fahrenheit. SUPPORT https://azmirror.com/donate/?oa referrer=midstorybox