As we work to responsibly grow our infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for Google products and services, sustainability is top of mind. Last year, construction started for our first Arizona data center in Mesa, which will use air-cooled technology in line with our climate-conscious approach to minimize net environmental impact across water and energy resources. Today, we’re announcing an energy supply agreement with Salt River Project (SRP) to support more than 430 megawatts of new-to-the-grid, carbon-free energy capacity in the state. Our current projections indicate the agreement will help our operations in Arizona reach at least 80% carbon-free energy (CFE) on an hourly basis by 2026.
New agreement brings carbon-free energy to Arizona’s grid
The new agreement includes a mix of dedicated wind power, solar energy and battery storage from three facilities operated by NextEra Energy Resources on SRP’s power grid in Arizona: Sonoran Solar Energy Center, Storey Energy Center and Babbitt Ranch Energy Center. Reaching at least 80% CFE for our Mesa data center is essential as we continue working toward our ambitious goal to run our entire business on 24/7 CFE by 2030.
With this new agreement, we are not just offsetting our energy use, but also actively working to add carbon-free energy capacity directly to Arizona’s grid when and where it’s needed. The collaboration with SRP and NextEra Energy Resources is accelerating decarbonization in Arizona and our own carbon-free journey in the region. Plus, helping advance the transition from fossil fuels to carbon-free energy sources is necessary as we work together to address the climate crisis and ensure stable, affordable access to clean energy.
More ways we’re supporting Mesa’s community
Supporting communities where we operate is a top priority. In addition to bringing clean energy to Arizona, we are supporting projects including planting trees and increasing access to higher education.
Planting trees in communities has a range of benefits including providing shade that can reduce home energy bills and urban heat, supporting local food production, and increasing biodiversity. We’re partnering with Mesa’s Shade Tree Program to fund four tree-planting workshops, resulting in 600 new trees every year.
To remove barriers to higher education, we provided $100,000 in support of the Mesa College Promise. This community college tuition support program helps qualified high school students and adult learners in the Mesa community pursue higher education with fully free tuition and access to additional support services for two years.
We’re just getting started
Our Mesa data center will be operational in 2025, and our work doesn’t end with these programs. We’ll continue to collaborate with SRP to decarbonize the grid, invest in local programs, and support overall economic development in the area.
To learn more about Google data centers, visit google.com/datacenters. To learn more about our sustainability work, visit sustainability.google.