Council adopts general‑plan policy and zoning rules for data centers after extensive public comment on power, water and fire risks

Phoenix City Council on July 2 adopted a general‑plan amendment and a zoning text amendment establishing location criteria, definitions and performance standards for data centers, after broad public comment and a unanimous council vote.

City staff and outside counsel told council that the scale and operational characteristics of modern data centers — very large electric loads, onsite backup generation, battery energy‑storage systems, and cooling systems — require a distinct regulatory framework that the current zoning ordinance does not address. Planning staff noted electric utilities APS and SRP reported interconnection requests from data centers that far exceed current system capacity, raising the prospect that some centers will need on‑site…