(CHANDLER, Ariz.) – On December 11, 2025, the Chandler City Council unanimously rejected a proposed AI data center located near Price and Dobson roads. Many residents expressed strong opposition, and are now wondering why construction is still happening on the Price Road Corridor.
In addition to the construction, other data center facilities in Chandler continue with expansion efforts. The rejected data center project was advanced by Active Infrastructure. The company wanted to rezone the site for a large facility and related buildings on nearly 40 acres of land.
Photo Credit: George Young
Several speakers raised concerns related to water and power usage in a desert city during the November 9 city council meeting. Outgoing Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke stated that large, low-employment buildings did not fit the Price Corridor’s intention for supporting higher-job uses. Mayor-elect Matt Orlando mentioned that the developer had not presented a viable business case.
Nearly 300 people attended the meeting about data centers, and many Chandler residents still object to adding new facilities. A Nextdoor poll conducted by OpGov.News found that 77% opposed building new data centers in Chandler. While the denial stopped that one specific data center in December 2025, other projects that were under construction or already held approvals were able to continue.
Photo Credit: George Young / Nextdoor
At the Chandler City Council meeting on 12/11/2025, longtime Chandler resident Lisa Wright said, “I strongly oppose the data center. Arizona’s limited water supply should not be strained. This should only cause hardship on Chandler residents causing less resources, higher water, electric bills for us.”
Outgoing Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke agreed, stating, “Big, almost jobless buildings that are important and desired in other locations don’t fit what we’ve been designing and crafting and looking for in Price Corridor.”
Aligned Data Centers is working on facilities located near Price Road and Innovation Street. Two buildings are planned to combine for nearly 400 megawatts of capacity. One building’s designs call for roughly 457,000 square feet, with the other being about 396,000.
Public records have disclosed that Google and Oracle are linked to activity at the larger campus, although the city has not given exact details. Tech companies such as Digital Realty and CyrusOne are already operating in the same industrial area of the city.
Chandler residents who oppose data centers were relieved that the city adopted rules to make new data centers more difficult to get approved, especially those that require special-use permits. City officials previously stated that there were no pending use-permit applications inside Chandler city limits. Projects with earlier entitlements were still able to proceed with their prior approvals.
One major argument against data centers is related to how much water and power they consume. Some residents raised industrial water use as a chief concern at the October 15, 2026 utility rate hearing. Many speakers commented that large commercial and industrial water customers should carry a greater share of costs than the average household or small business.
The city has stated that a new cost-of-service study is scheduled to examine how costs and revenues are allocated among commercial, industrial, multi-family, and residential customers. The study is expected to be available to guide rate decisions for 2028.
Photo Credit: City of Chandler / YouTube
Chandler residents who opposed the 2025 proposal mentioned that they want the city to protect water resources while prioritizing higher-employment development. Studies have shown that a typical 250,000-square-foot data center employs about 50 permanent workers once it is operational. By comparison, a manufacturing plant of the same size employs roughly 400 to 680 workers, about 8 to 13 times as many.
Data center project supporters cite the ability to support the regional tech economy and generate tax revenue. Many residents would be more supportive of the industry if data center operators paid their fair share related to water and power costs and did not receive as many tax breaks.
Even though construction continues on new data center projects around the Price Corridor, residents are still encouraged to raise their concerns about individual projects at future public hearings for new applications.
To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at george.y@lead4earth.org and leave a comment below with your thoughts on data centers in Chandler.
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