BUSINESS
COUNTY BY THE NUMBERS
The new neighbors won’t talk, they’ll hum As industry and urbanity move into rural Maricopa, the once prominent rural lifestyle struggles to preserve itself. BY MONICA D. SPENCER
Current data centers 1 Proposed data centers 7 Current power stations 13 (4 gas, 9 solar) Proposed power station 14 (10 solar, 4 gas) Current energy production 3,066 MW Proposed energy production 11,760 MW Current battery storage 5 stations 2,276 MW Proposed battery storage 6,857 MW
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OV. 4, 1975. IT’S A DATE SO NEAR and dear to Nancy Rollins that she doesn’t need to take a beat to remember it.
“I moved out here 50 years ago. We bought our land. We did the things that we had to do, you know? It was a big deal,” the Hidden Valley resident said. At the time, the region was firmly rooted in its agricultural identity. Pinal County’s population sat at roughly 67,000, and Maricopa, home to about 200 of them, was little more than a wide stretch of desert punctuated by farmland and ranches. For Rollins, it felt like paradise, especially after dark. “In those days, we used to be able to go out every night and watch falling stars and see the Milky Way. Every night. It was amazing,” she recalled. The darkness was thick, almost physical. All it took was stepping outside to feel swallowed by it. Those velvety nights, Rollins said, are long gone. “I know part of it’s my vision, but now you go outside and it’s like you should be able to see something, you know? Even when Ak-Chin built the casino, it changed dramatically out there just because of the lighting they have,” Rollins said. Each new development in East Maricopa, Hidden Valley or Thunderbird Farms seems to take a small piece of that quiet with it. Standing in a community meeting room lined with foam- board posters for proposed projects, she feels it slipping away again. While the dozen or so master-planned housing communities have dominated the local conversation in recent years, a different kind of development is moving toward the open land north of Rollins’s home: a natural gas plant. And Rollins knows this time the new neighbors won’t talk. They’ll hum.
Hidden Valley and Thunderbird Farms residents look at presentation boards and speak with each other about the proposed Horseshoe Energy Project on Nov. 12 at Ak-Chin Elements Center.
County size 5,374 square miles
An energy boom The Horseshoe Energy Project, a natural gas peaking plant paired with a battery energy storage system, is one of roughly two dozen energy and technology industry projects proposed for rural Pinal County over the past two years. The surge is not surprising. Just a few years ago, some speculated the traditionally agricultural and mining-focused county could become “the Detroit of electric vehicles.” Now, natural gas plants, solar farms and battery storage centers are increasingly entering the picture. Many of them have arrived quietly, often noticed first by nearby residents. The projects are part of Arizona’s broader utility strategy, led by Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service, to at least double
resource capacity over the next decade as coal plants are retired and the state’s population and industrial base continue to grow. SRP has stated it plans to double or triple its energy capacity as it decommissions coal-based power and continues shifting toward renewable sources. “In the next five to 10 years, you’re going to see some stunning numbers from us,” SRP’s Economic Development Manager Karla Moran told the Mesa Economic Advisory Board in August. APS has said it plans to increase its energy portfolio by 7,300 megawatts by 2028, enough power to supply an additional 200,000 homes annually. But it is not just homes driving the demand. It is the rise of industry, including local
Proposed projects 35 square miles
InMaricopa.com | Janaury 2026
Janaury 2026 | InMaricopa.com
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