This rapid growth of data centers in Arizona reflects a jarring contrast: the rise of the cutting-edge facilities serving the needs of the technology giants versus the thousands, especially the poorest communities-like the Navajo Nation, going without the basic provision of electricity. This is symbolic of tension between economic growth and equity in resource distribution.
Thomasina Nez is a face to that struggle, living life on the Navajo Nation. Adjustments for the lack of power are routine: boiling water to take a shower, storing foods in ways that do not involve refrigeration, and so on. But without electricity, her entire life becomes thrown into a disarray, forced into living away from her kids so they could have access to power for school.
While Arizona’s utility regulators have focused on supporting data center infrastructure, proposals to extend electricity to parts of the Navajo Nation have been rejected. It would be too costly for utility customers, the $4 million it would take to electrify these areas outweighing benefits. That decision has left many people in the dark, like Nez-literally and figuratively.
Data Centers and Increasing Energy Demand
Arizona is fast becoming the hub for data centers, attracting the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Meta. It is leading the charge: since 2019, more than 12 data centers have been built in Maricopa County, while many more are planned. These facilities drive the demand for electricity in the state, with providers estimating that over half of their future energy needs will come from data centers.
Utility companies have actually been reverting to coal and natural gas as demands are increasing after so many years of progress toward renewable energy. This has environmental and health repercussions in the communities around such facilities-like the historically Black town of Randolph-who are suffering from increased air pollution and associated health concerns due to the expansion of a gas plant nearby.
Left-Behind Communities
Where technology companies thrive in the friendly Arizona conditions, vulnerable communities pay the price. On the Navajo Nation, residents are as close to the power lines but cannot afford the sharp costs to hook up onto the grid. Many, like Gayle Payton, face life-threating difficulties. With a fragile health condition requiring her to use oxygen equipment she can only operate with electricity, Gayle keeps going in and out of emergency hospital admissions.
Federal and tribal regulations stifled infrastructure development on Navajo lands for years. When those restrictions finally lifted in 2009, the labyrinthine bureaucracy did not go away, still causing delays today. Even partial funding released to the Navajo Nation has been unable to stem the tide as the power gap remains huge.
