County proposal for ‘Project Baccara’ would place two data centers and 700‑MW gas plant half‑mile south of Surprise city limits

Lloyd, a city staff member, told the Surprise City Council the Project Baccara proposal lies about a half mile south of the Surprise city limits near Bullard and Olive and would include two two‑story data center buildings totaling about a million square feet and an 18‑unit natural‑gas combustion turbine generation facility totaling about 700 megawatts.

Council members and staff said the project is in Maricopa County’s review process and that county planners had been asked to require an array of technical studies and permits before project hearings: air‑quality and noise studies, a hydrology/well‑impact analysis, subsidence/ground‑fissure review, transportation impact fees and an emergency‑response coordination plan. Lloyd said the applicant also seeks a county military‑use permit, a variance to county building‑height and parking rules and that the site’s current county zoning is IND‑3 with an IUPD (industrial unit plan development).

Why it matters: council members emphasized the project’s potential cross‑jurisdictional impacts on Surprise residents and first responders. Several members said they want explicit hydrology findings and well‑impact waivers to show whether new on‑site wells could affect existing resident or municipal wells. Council member Judd asked about sound mitigation after staff cited informal research that individual turbine start‑up noise can average 85–90 decibels; Lloyd said a noise study requested from the applicant would quantify contours and impacts.

Details and debate: Lloyd summarized that the generation component would include 72‑foot exhaust stacks tied to roughly 48‑foot buildings (the county’s base height is 40 feet). He also said the project includes a substation yard intended to tie back into APS. Council members pressed staff for specifics: who will build and supply the natural‑gas feed, whether Southwest Gas or another provider would be used, and whether EPCOR would supply initial fill for closed‑loop chiller systems while ongoing process water would come from wells. Michael, a city staff member, said the city will request a well‑impact analysis and seek well‑impact waivers to ensure the project’s well pumping would not harm exempt or production wells serving the area.

Several council members urged residents to submit comments directly to Maricopa County planning to ensure the county record includes neighborhood concerns and noted the applicant planned neighborhood meetings (an in‑person open house and a later virtual session). Lloyd said the county review was in second submittal stage and that next steps were planning‑and‑zoning and board of supervisors hearings.

What was not decided: no action or vote by the Surprise City Council was taken on Project Baccara during the meeting; the council did not approve or deny permits. Staff described requests made to the county for studies and asked residents to engage with the county planner listed on the project file.

Looking ahead: council members said they will continue to compile resident questions and forward them to county planners; Councilman Judd noted potential future regulatory windows at the Arizona Corporation Commission for portions of the project and encouraged residents to engage there as the project moves forward.