Resident says data center led her to run for Surprise council

OPINION — I didn’t set out to run for Surprise City Council. But after watching council members say nothing about Project Baccara, I decided to file as a write-in candidate for District 6.

Project Baccara is a massive, hyperscale AI data center and natural gas power plant. The proposed site at Litchfield and Olive is next to established neighborhoods, with the closest residence just 400 feet away, and perilously close to Luke Air Force Base.

I’ve watched as elected county officials ignore the hundreds of letters of opposition and the residents who show up to public meetings and ask their representatives to stop Project Baccara. We are ignored every time.

Surprise won’t reap any of the promised tax benefits of this project because it’s just outside the city limits. But the residents of Surprise are the ones who will shoulder the burden of it: dwindling water supply, contaminated groundwater, polluted air, and diminished property values.

Project Baccara will turn our neighborhoods into ticking time bombs. On-site propane and ammonia storage increases the risk of Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) events such as the recent catastrophe in Orange County.

And Luke jets have crashed in areas dangerously close to the proposed site, like the 2013 crash at Peoria and Bullard. Imagine what would happen if an F-35 crashes into this power plant. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people who live and work in this area could be killed or seriously wounded. Homes would be destroyed.

We all want safe and sustainable growth for Surprise. AI data centers like Project Baccara are neither safe nor sustainable.

I’m just a regular person who wants to do right by the residents of Surprise, not corporate or political interests. As council member, I will actively oppose Project Baccara and all future AI data center development in and near our neighborhoods.