Arizona Data Centers
- Arizona’s dry climate enables evaporative cooling that uses 80–90% less energy than mechanical chillers — turning the desert heat into a competitive advantage.
- TSMC’s $40+ billion semiconductor campus in north Phoenix is creating an adjacent demand corridor for AI data centers that want to colocate near chip manufacturing.
- With 300+ sunny days per year, Arizona operators are signing dedicated solar-plus-battery PPAs at rates below grid prices.
Phoenix Metro: Where Desert Heat Meets Dry-Air Cooling
Nearly all of Arizona’s data center activity is concentrated in Maricopa County — the greater Phoenix metro. The West Valley (Goodyear, Avondale, El Mirage) has become the preferred corridor for hyperscale builds, with Microsoft, Google, and Meta constructing massive campuses on inexpensive desert land. The East Valley (Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert) hosts a denser mix of colocation and enterprise facilities, closely integrated with the semiconductor corridor anchored by TSMC, Intel, and NXP. Phoenix’s low humidity enables highly efficient evaporative cooling for roughly 90% of the year, turning what appears to be a climate disadvantage into a meaningful operating cost reduction.
Arizona’s Data Center Counties
Maricopa County dominates with the vast majority of Arizona’s ' . number_format($total) . ' tracked facilities. Pinal County to the south and Yavapai County to the north have seen exploratory interest, but Phoenix metro’s utility infrastructure (APS and SRP), fiber connectivity, and workforce keep the market concentrated.
| County | Facilities | Capacity (MW) | Top Operators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maricopa | 77 | 8,583 | 1GServers, Amazon Web Services, Accelera +54 more |
| Pima | 5 | — | DirecTV, Fremont Peak Properties LLC (Beale Infrastructure), Lumen Technologies +2 more |
| Cochise | 1 | — | DirecTV |
| Pinal | 1 | — | Vermaland LLC |
Microsoft, Google, and the TSMC Effect
Microsoft’s Goodyear campus and Google’s Mesa expansion represent multi-billion-dollar bets on Phoenix. CyrusOne, Digital Realty, EdgeCore, Vantage, and Iron Mountain provide the colocation layer. TSMC’s fab in north Phoenix is attracting adjacent data center development from companies that want to colocate AI training near chip manufacturing — a new site-selection dynamic that barely existed three years ago.
| # | Operator | Facilities | Capacity (MW) | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft | 5 | — | El Mirage, Goodyear |
| 2 | Iron Mountain | 4 | 6 | Phoenix, Scottsdale |
| 3 | Digital Realty | 3 | 34 | Tempe, Chandler, Mesa |
| 4 | Aligned Data Centers | 3 | 72 | Fennemore, Phoenix, Glendale |
| 5 | Lumen Technologies | 3 | — | Phoenix, Tucson |
| 6 | Cogent Communications | 2 | — | Phoenix, Tucson |
| 7 | Vantage Data Centers | 2 | 176 | Goodyear |
| 8 | PhoenixNAP | 2 | 20 | Phoenix |
| 9 | NTT Global Data Centers | 2 | 396 | Mesa |
| 10 | Meta | 2 | 50 | Mesa |
| 11 | GoDaddy | 2 | — | Gilbert |
| 12 | EdgeConneX | 2 | — | Tempe, Mesa |
| 13 | DirecTV | 2 | — | Tucson, Benson |
| 14 | 2 | 400 | Mesa | |
| 15 | Compass Datacenters | 2 | — | Goodyear, El Mirage |
| 16 | Takanock, LLC | 1 | 700 | Surprise |
| 17 | Apple Inc. | 1 | — | Mesa |
| 18 | Alliance | 1 | — | Mesa |
| 19 | Myndshift | 1 | — | Mesa |
| 20 | All | 1 | — | Chandler |
| 21 | Novva Data Centers | 1 | 300 | Mesa |
| 22 | Omnis | 1 | — | Tempe |
| 23 | OneNeck IT Solutions | 1 | — | Gilbert |
| 24 | OptimumHQ | 1 | — | Mesa |
| 25 | Alembic | 1 | — | Tempe |
Arizona’s Largest Data Center Facilities
' . htmlspecialchars($cap_names[0]) . ' County leads with ' . number_format($top_cap[$cap_names[0]]["cap"]) . ' MW of tracked capacity. The largest Arizona facilities are overwhelmingly hyperscale cloud and AI builds in the West Valley, where cheap land, utility capacity, and solar resources converge.
| # | Facility | Operator | Location | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Desert Sun Power Plant | Arizona Public Service (APS) | Gila Bend, Maricopa Co. | 2,000 MW | Planned |
| 2 | Buckeye Tech Corridor | Tract | Buckeye, Maricopa Co. | 1,800 MW | Permitted |
| 3 | Hassayampa Ranch Data Center | Arizona Land Consulting | Tonopah, Maricopa Co. | 1,500 MW | Planned |
| 4 | Project Baccara | Takanock, LLC | Surprise, Maricopa Co. | 700 MW | Permitted |
| 5 | Google Redhawk Mesa Data Center Campus | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 400 MW | Operational | |
| 6 | NTT Global Data Centers Mesa — Pacific Proving Technology Park | NTT Global Data Centers | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 360 MW | Planned |
| 7 | Novva Mesa Data Center Campus | Novva Data Centers | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 300 MW | Under Construction |
| 8 | Stream Data Centers PHXA (Phoenix I-VII, Goodyear Campus) | Stream Data Centers | Goodyear, Maricopa Co. | 280 MW | Operational |
| 9 | Avondale Campus | Prime Data Centers | Avondale, Maricopa Co. | 240 MW | Under Construction |
| 10 | STACK PHX01 Avondale | STACK Infrastructure | Goodyear, Maricopa Co. | 225 MW | Under Construction |
| 11 | EdgeCore Mesa Data Center Campus | EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 206 MW | Operational |
| 12 | Vantage Phoenix Campus (Goodyear, AZ) | Vantage Data Centers | Goodyear, Maricopa Co. | 176 MW | Operational |
| 13 | CoreWeave Phoenix | CoreWeave | Phoenix, Maricopa Co. | 120 MW | Under Construction |
| 14 | Aligned PHX-13 | Aligned Data Centers | Glendale, Maricopa Co. | 72 MW | Under Construction |
| 15 | Meta Mesa Data Center | Meta | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 50 MW | Operational |
| 16 | Edged PHX01-1 (Mesa) | Edged | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 36 MW | Operational |
| 17 | NTT Phoenix PH1 Data Center | NTT Global Data Centers | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 36 MW | Operational |
| 18 | Digital Realty PHX (Tempe) | Digital Realty | Tempe, Maricopa Co. | 34 MW | Operational |
| 19 | PhoenixNAP Phoenix Data Center | PhoenixNAP | Phoenix, Maricopa Co. | 20 MW | Operational |
| 20 | Centersquare PHX3 | Centersquare (Cyxtera/Evoque) | Mesa, Maricopa Co. | 17 MW | Operational |
| 21 | Iron Mountain AZS-1 | Iron Mountain | Scottsdale, Maricopa Co. | 6 MW | Operational |
| 22 | Flexential Phoenix - Deer Valley | Flexential | Phoenix, Maricopa Co. | 5 MW | Operational |
California Overflow and the Semiconductor Corridor
Arizona’s pipeline has accelerated as operators seek alternatives to constrained California and Northern Virginia markets. Phoenix offers comparable fiber connectivity to the Bay Area (a 5-hour drive, 1-hour flight) at a fraction of the real estate and electricity cost. TSMC’s expanding semiconductor campus is creating a new demand dynamic — AI companies increasingly want to manufacture and deploy in the same region. ' . number_format($pipeline) . ' Arizona facilities are currently in development.
Solar Abundance and Regulated Utility Rates
Arizona’s electricity market is regulated, served by APS (Arizona Public Service) and SRP (Salt River Project). Commercial rates average 8–10¢/kWh, competitive for a Sun Belt market. Both utilities offer dedicated large-load tariffs for data centers. Arizona’s real energy advantage is solar: the state averages 300+ sunny days per year, and operators are signing power purchase agreements for dedicated solar-plus-battery projects at rates below grid prices. APS and SRP also offer green tariff programs that match consumption with utility-scale solar. Compare current Arizona electricity rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Arizona's desert climate affect data center cooling?
Arizona’s low humidity is actually an advantage. Evaporative cooling systems work extremely efficiently in dry climates, using 80–90% less energy than traditional mechanical chillers for most of the year. During the brief monsoon season (July–September), facilities switch to supplemental mechanical cooling. Water consumption is managed through recycled water and air-cooled alternatives.
Why is Phoenix growing as a data center market?
Phoenix offers abundant cheap land, competitive electricity rates, proximity to California’s tech ecosystem, a dry climate enabling efficient evaporative cooling, low natural disaster risk, growing fiber connectivity, and business-friendly regulations. TSMC’s semiconductor campus adds a new draw.
How does TSMC's Arizona fab relate to data centers?
TSMC’s $40+ billion semiconductor fabrication campus in north Phoenix creates a semiconductor-to-data-center corridor. AI chips manufactured in Arizona can be installed in data centers just miles away, reducing supply chain logistics.
What is Arizona's solar energy advantage?
Arizona averages 300+ sunny days per year, making it one of the best solar resources in the world. Multiple data center operators have signed power purchase agreements for dedicated solar-plus-battery projects, securing long-term renewable energy at rates below grid prices.
How many data centers are in Arizona?
Arizona has 84 tracked data center facilities across 4 counties. The Phoenix metro area in Maricopa County hosts virtually all of the state’s data center activity.
Which companies operate the most data centers in Arizona?
Major operators include Microsoft, Google, CyrusOne, Digital Realty, EdgeCore, Vantage Data Centers, Iron Mountain, and Stream Data Centers. Meta has also announced significant Arizona expansion.