The Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted on Wednesday to reject a controversial large-scale data center project proposed for a site 12 miles outside of Eloy, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

The 4-1 vote blocks the path to rezone more than 3,000 acres of rural land for the development.

The highly contested La Osa Energy Center would have included 11 data center buildings, a gas-fired power plant and a battery energy storage system, according to KJZZ. 

In April, the Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission had approved rezoning measures for the project, but fierce local pushback disrupted plans, with opponents pointing to factors like extreme water and power usage, noise and light pollution, and community displacement as potential negative impacts of the build-out.

In response, project developer Vermaland said during a public hearing in May it would reduce the site by 80%, and it updated its zoning application to reflect changes including fewer buildings and power plants. 

Despite scaling back plans, opponents packed the Aug. 26 meeting to demonstrate against the project. And before that, the county received more than 100 letters protesting the project, PBJ reported. 

Last fall, commissioners swiftly granted approval to a comprehensive plan amendment for the original La Osa site — but that was before the onset of local backlash, which mirrors growing national sentiment.

Today, more than 200 local governments across the U.S. have active moratoriums on data center development. A four-month moratorium is in place in Pima County, and the state of Arizona enacted a three-year freeze on data center incentives in June.

In Arizona, approximately 160 data centers are in operation, with the majority located in the Phoenix metro, according to Data Center Map. Pinal County has no operating centers. This summer, Maricopa County officials approved a $10B facility in the West Valley.

Proponents of data centers have told Pinal County supervisors to create a framework for future development in the region, like Maricopa County did last year. Pinal County has seen a slew of rezoning requests for data center projects, and PBJ reported that county staff is now considering “amendments to the zoning code,” which would eventually have to go through the public approval process.

But looking ahead, public pushback across the state continues. Residents of Page, for instance, are continuing to protest a 500-acre land sale near Horseshoe Bend, which was approved by the city council last fall to house a 1-gigawatt data center.