Pinal Unlocked
Bringing issues into focus
…one voice at a time.
La Osa Data Center Series
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The Oldest Question in Land Use
Supervisor Stephen Miller says property rights should carry the La Osa data center vote. This column argues the Board has room to say no, and that water, subsidence and a land-banking applicant with no end user are reasons to use it.
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Sorting Substance From Salesmanship in the Data Center Boom
As Pinal County weighs the La Osa data center, a computing researcher who has tracked similar projects warns developers are building far more capacity than demand will fill. Supervisors take the project up again August 26.
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Misinformation Goes Both Ways
A Pinal Partnership newsletter urges Pinal County leaders to reject any pause on data centers and casts concerns about water, power, and noise as misinformation. But the group’s leaders are closely tied to the La Osa project it is promoting — reason to weigh the newsletter as advocacy, not neutral analysis.
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The Proposed La Osa Data Center Site: an Aerial View
An aerial tour of the proposed La Osa data center site reveals what sits inside its footprint: the weathering ruins of Sasco and the Hotel Rockland, a wildlife corridor linking two mountain ranges, and the branching channels of Greene Wash. As Pinal County’s August 26 hearing approaches, photographer Eirini Pajak looks down on the 2,393…
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The Employment Projection Behind the La Osa Vote
The job numbers discussed at the hearing are not enforceable unless they are written into a signed agreement. Will the applicant offer one, including a minimum number of jobs, a clear definition of what counts as a permanent job, annual reporting, and consequences if the numbers fall short?
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Cracks in the Foundation: The Geology Beneath the La Osa Vote
The site sits on fissure-prone ground, in a flood zone, inside a wildlife corridor, above an aquifer the region depends on. When that many sensitive conditions converge on one parcel, the usual assumption that engineering can solve whatever the studies later reveal is exactly the assumption that should be tested first.
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The Water Accounting Behind the La Osa Vote
A $33 billion hyperscale data center is up for a Board vote in a basin where ADWR has already halted new groundwater-based residential development, yet the record contains unverified data center water use figures, an unspecified water source, and cooling claims that are not binding conditions of approval. This article walks through what the La…
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La Osa Data Center: Where Does the Power Come From?
Pinal County votes May 27 on the $33B La Osa data center power supply plan, a 3 GW campus with no utility commitments, undefined gas capacity, and unresolved grid interconnection studies.
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La Osa Data Center: Where Does the $100 Million Actually Go?
A close look at the La Osa data center tax revenue claims shows why Pinal County’s projected $100 million windfall shrinks substantially under Arizona law.