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Gridcensus

Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent

Brownfield

Pinal County, Arizona · WECC

DC Readiness
69.5
Good / 100

At a glance

Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent is a brownfield datacenter candidate site in Pinal County, Arizona, scoring 69.5/100 DC Readiness — 1st of 471 scored sites in the county. Its nearest substation is QUAIL (0.7 mi, 69 kV). It sits in the WECC grid region and the SALT RIVER PROJECT service territory, where interconnection has averaged 3.5 years from request to operation. GridCensus catalogs 1,779 MW of candidate capacity here.

Power & interconnection

Nearest substationQUAIL
Substation distance0.7 mi
Substation voltage69 kV
Available capacity1,779 MW
Utility commercial rate0.13¢/kWh
UtilitySALT RIVER PROJECTpolitical subdivisionmoderate to large load · terms ≥ 100 MW

Speed to power

Interconnection outlookConstrained
≈ 5.5 yrs typical interconnection wait

Deep queue and long historical waits — plan for a multi-year interconnection timeline and engage the utility early.

ISO / RTO regionWECC
Queue depth54
Avg queue wait3.5 yrs
Recent queue wait5.5 yrs
Completion rate17%
Withdrawal rate84%

Connectivity

Nearest IXPEdgeCore Phoenix
IXP distance15.3 mi
Fiber providers15
Fiber coverage54.0%
Nearest cloud providerAzure
Nearest cloud regionwestus3
Cloud region distance39.6 mi

Site characteristics

Site typeBrownfield
Parcel ownerSalt River Project
Land contactState Environmental Cleanup Program
Land owner typeprivate
Buildability70.0/100
Land cover (NLCD)Shrub/Scrub
Former usegas
Existing capacity1,779 MW

Risk & environment

Environmental constraintNone (0/100)
Flood zoneZone X
Water stress (WRI)4.20
Wetlands (NWI)Clear
Critical habitatClear
Superfund nearbyClear
Hazard sub-score78/100
Construction cost index88.3 (avg 100)

Location context

Nearest datacenterApple Mesa Data Center
DC distance15.0 mi
Nearest rail1.7 mi
Nearest gas pipeline5.4 mi
Nearest fiber route39.7 mi
County hazard (FEMA NRI)Relatively Low (22)
DC tax incentiveYes (property_tax_reduction)
Commercial electricity13.27¢/kWh
Industrial electricity10.78¢/kWh
Cooling degree days3,400
Heating degree days1,500
Land price / acre$2,148

Regulatory climate

Restrictivestate posture · as of 2026-08

Sales-tax exemption suspended Jul 2026–Jun 2029; water constraints add scrutiny.

DC tax incentiveNo / suspended

Incentive detail: Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET) for qualified facilities on government land.

Site location

◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
This site + 8 nearby

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How does Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent compare with other sites in Pinal County?

Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent ranks 1st of 471 scored candidate sites in Pinal County. Its 69.5/100 is about 40% above the county average of 49.5. It is about 43% above the Arizona average of 48.5 and about 31% above the national average of 53.2.

Against the Arizona average, its strongest sub-score is water (47 vs 17) and its weakest is natural hazard (78 vs 77). Power and speed to power each carry 20% of the composite score, fiber 12%, water 7% and hazard 6%.

How close is Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent to power, fiber and other datacenters?

The nearest mapped substation, QUAIL, is about 0.7 miles away and operates at 69 kV. For connectivity, the nearest internet exchange facility is EdgeCore Phoenix at 15.3 miles. 15 fiber providers report service at the location in FCC broadband data. The closest operating datacenter on record is Apple Mesa Data Center, 15 miles away.

What are the flood, water and hazard risks at Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent?

The site is in FEMA flood zone X, outside the Special Flood Hazard Area (minimal or moderate flood risk). WRI rates baseline water stress at 4.20 on a 0–5 scale. No mapped wetlands are recorded on the parcel. At the county level, FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pinal County "Relatively Low".

Full DC Readiness breakdown

All 13 weighted sub-scores (0–100) behind the composite DC Readiness score.

Power availability20%
60
Speed to power20%
68
Fiber connectivity12%
77
Energy cost10%
90
Water risk7%
47
Natural hazard6%
78
Buildability7%
70
Labor market4%
50
DC cluster4%
90
Land / acreage3%
76
Construction cost3%
76
Gas pipeline2%
83
Tax incentive1%
100
Climate / cooling1%
0

Nearby comparable sites

Other scored datacenter candidate sites in Pinal County, ranked by DC Readiness.

Sites near Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
BROWNINGSubstation-Adjacent500 kV1,000 MW3.5 yrs65.7
SAGUAROSubstation-Adjacent500 kV1,000 MW3.5 yrs63.8
ABELSubstation-Adjacent500 kV1,000 MW3.5 yrs63.0
DUKESubstation-Adjacent500 kV1,000 MW3.5 yrs62.3
TORTOLITASubstation-Adjacent500 kV1,000 MW3.5 yrs62.0
PINAL CENTRALSubstation-Adjacent500 kV1,000 MW3.5 yrs61.4
SCHRADERSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW3.5 yrs60.8
SANTANSubstation-Adjacent230 kV300 MW3.5 yrs60.7

Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent: common questions

What is the DC Readiness score of Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent?

Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent scores 69.5/100 on the GridCensus DC Readiness scale, rated good. It ranks 1st of 471 scored sites in Pinal County. The Pinal County average is 49.5 and the Arizona average is 48.5.

What is the nearest substation to Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent?

The nearest mapped substation is QUAIL, about 0.7 miles away, at 69 kV. GridCensus catalogs 1,779 MW of candidate capacity for the site.

Which electric utility serves Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent?

SALT RIVER PROJECT (political subdivision) holds the retail service territory that contains the site.

What grid region is Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent in?

Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent is in the WECC region. Projects interconnecting there have averaged a 3.5-year wait from queue request to operation.

Is Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent in a flood zone?

The site is in FEMA flood zone X, outside the Special Flood Hazard Area (minimal or moderate flood risk).

Who owns Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent?

Parcel records list the owner as Salt River Project (private land).

How far is Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent from an internet exchange?

The nearest internet exchange facility is EdgeCore Phoenix, about 15.3 miles away; 15 fiber providers report service at the location.

Related pages

About this data

Source: GridCensus composite of HIFLD transmission and substation data, EIA, FEMA National Risk Index, FCC broadband data, PeeringDB and ISO interconnection queues, as published October 10, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.

Cite as: GridCensus, “Copper Crossing Energy and Research Cent, Pinal County, AZ”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/arizona/pinal-county/copper-crossing-energy-and-research-cent-65689f2f (data as of October 10, 2026).

Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.

Figures are screening estimates derived from public infrastructure data. Catalogued capacity reflects theoretical candidate capacity, not deliverable or committed interconnection. Confirm all values with the utility, ISO, and on-the-ground due diligence.

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