Glendale annexes 160 acres for data center campus and gas plant

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Residents of Surprise's Rancho Gabriela neighborhood live about a mile from 160 acres of farmland at Litchfield Road and Olive Avenue. On Oct. 27, the Glendale City Council voted 6-1 to annex that land and rezone it for three data centers and an 18-turbine natural gas plant. Most of the people who spoke against the project cannot vote for the council that approved it.

The site sits in unincorporated Maricopa County, just south of Surprise. Annexation brings it into Glendale, which gives neighbors the city's noise, light and nuisance ordinances to complain under. It also gives the developer a path to build. The project's two halves, a data center campus called Project Eagle and a power plant called Project Baccara, are now the subject of a county air-quality question: one source of pollution, or two?

Why it matters

Maricopa County is deciding whether a gas plant built to power a data center counts as one pollution source or two, a call that shapes how Arizona permits the next wave of data centers.

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Key Indicators

160 acres

Land annexed

Farmland west of Litchfield Road and Olive Avenue, moved from Maricopa County into Glendale.

700.2 MW

Gas plant capacity

The figure the Arizona Corporation Commission used when it approved the plant's environmental certificate.

Natural gas turbines

72-foot-tall units that come online in phases as each data center building is finished.

1.1 million sq ft

Data center floor area

Three one-story buildings, per city staff.

30%

Cap on turbine run time

The Maricopa County air permit limits how often the turbines may operate.

25%

Water versus farming

The developer's attorney said the site would use about a quarter of the water used to farm the same acreage.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Jerry Weiers

Mayor of Glendale

Voted for annexation and rezoning

Leandro Baldenegro

Glendale City Councilmember

Cast the only no vote on both ordinances

Lupe Conchas Jr.

Glendale City Councilmember

Voted yes despite stating opposition to the project

Ed Bull

Attorney, Burch & Cracchiolo

Represents the applicant

Geoff Shumway

Vice president of utility and government affairs, Takanock

Developer representative

Tom Bakem

Surprise resident, Rancho Gabriela neighborhood

Opposed the power plant, not the data centers

Dave Wirth

Surprise resident living about 2,600 feet from the plant site

Opposed the project

Steve Gallardo

Maricopa County Supervisor

Voted against the project's military compatibility permit

Organizations Involved

City of Glendale

Municipal government

Approved annexation and rezoning

The city that absorbed the 160-acre site and now holds zoning authority over it.

Takanock

Real estate developer

Developer of the project

The Michigan-based developer behind the data center campus and the gas plant beside it.

Maricopa County Air Quality Department

County environmental regulator

Holding an open decision on whether the two facilities are one pollution source

The county agency that permits the plant's emissions and is weighing how to treat the data center beside it.

Arizona Corporation Commission

State utility regulator

Approved the plant's environmental certificate

The state body that granted the power plant its certificate of environmental compatibility.

Luke Air Force Base

Military installation

Found the uses compatible with conditions

The base whose noise zones cover the site and whose review shaped the zoning conditions.

Baccara Eagle Land LLC

Land-holding entity

Owns the 160-acre site

The entity that owns the land under both the data center campus and the power plant.

Timeline

November 2025 October 2026

9 events Latest: 3 days ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

October 2026
County's one-source-or-two decision remains open
Latest Regulatory

The air quality department said it had made no final decision on whether the plant and data center count as one emissions source.
3 days ago
Glendale council annexes and rezones the site
Land use

The council voted 6-1 on annexation and again on rezoning, with Leandro Baldenegro the only no vote.
6 days ago
September 2026
Planning commission recommends approval
Land use

A motion to recommend denial failed 2-4; the commission then voted 4-2 to recommend approval.
September 24th, 2026
August 2026
Consultant asks county to split the two facilities
Regulatory

BlueScape Environmental argued the plant and data center have no direct relationship and should be permitted separately.
August 2026
June 2026
Luke Air Force Base issues compatibility review
Regulatory

The base found the uses compatible only if the developer meets its conditions.
June 30th, 2026
County issues air permit for the gas plant
Regulatory

The Maricopa County Air Quality Department permitted the plant at the end of June.
June 2026
May 2026
County supervisors approve military compatibility permit
Regulatory

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1, with Supervisor Steve Gallardo opposed.
May 6th, 2026
February 2026
State commission approves the plant's environmental certificate
Regulatory

The Arizona Corporation Commission voted 5-0 and described the plant as 700.2 megawatts.
February 4th, 2026
November 2025
Surprise residents ask their council to oppose the project
Public opposition

Roy Dunbar told Surprise's council he spoke for an opposition group of more than 1,200 people, naming Rancho Gabriela, Greer Farms, Marley Park and Copper Canyon as the most affected neighborhoods.
November 2025

Scenarios

County keeps Eagle and Baccara as one pollution source

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Maricopa County Air Quality Department, as reported by The Arizona Republic

The county has said it will count the plant and the data center as a single source because the plant exists mostly to serve the data center, matching federal policy against splitting projects to dodge a stricter pollution designation. If that holds, the two facilities share one cumulative emissions cap. The developer's consultant has argued against it, and the county says the designation could change if the facilities prove they are not dependent on each other.

County splits the plant and data center into separate sources

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: BlueScape Environmental, consulting for the developer

In an August 2026 letter, BlueScape told the county there is no direct relationship between the facilities, because the plant sells power to the grid and the data center can draw from multiple sources. The county rejected that reasoning but left the door open: the projects could be treated separately if they prove they are not dependent on one another or under common control. Separate treatment would give each facility its own emissions cap.

Neighbors or an environmental group sue over the annexation

Uncertain Resolves by Oct 27, 2027

Discussed by: No filing reported as of Oct. 30, 2026

Residents have fought the project for more than a year, and the council that approved it represents none of them. A legal challenge would likely argue that Glendale's annexation or rezoning failed a procedural requirement, or that the county's air permitting was flawed. No suit had been reported when the council voted.

Construction starts before the data center air permit lands

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Developer statements reported by The Arizona Republic

Construction was slated to begin later in 2026, while the data center's air permit is not expected until the first quarter of 2027 or early in the second. The plant's permit is already in hand. If building permits issue first, the site work proceeds while the county's one-source question is still unresolved.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1976-1988

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (1976-1988)

Three nuclear reactors were built in the desert about 50 miles west of Phoenix, on land that was then far from the metro area's subdivisions. Nearby residents and environmental groups opposed the project through years of construction and licensing.

Then

All three units came online between 1986 and 1988.

Now

Palo Verde became the largest nuclear plant in the United States by net generation, and Phoenix's growth eventually pushed suburbs toward it.

Why this matters now

It is the same land-use pattern now playing out at Litchfield and Olive: large generation sited in open desert, then surrounded by the people who did not want it.

2022

Greenidge Generation's bitcoin plant (2022)

A gas-fired power plant on Seneca Lake in upstate New York had been converted to run bitcoin mining servers on site. When the company sought to renew its air permit, state regulators examined the plant and the computing load as a linked operation.

Then

New York's environmental agency denied the permit renewal in 2022.

Now

The case became a reference point for how regulators treat on-site generation built to serve computing, rather than the grid at large.

Why this matters now

Project Baccara and Project Eagle raise the same question Maricopa County is now weighing: whether the power plant and the machines it feeds are one thing or two.