Highlights

Two battery energy storage projects in the West Valley have cleared initial city approvals as utilities race to backstop the power loads of incoming data center campuses, and Arizona is outpacing every other state in new storage capacity.

Arizona added 6.2 gigawatt-hours of battery storage capacity in the second quarter of 2026, leading the country, according to a U.S. Energy Storage Market Outlook report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Barrel Cactus, Peoria. Plus Power, a private firm that develops, owns and operates BESS projects, is the proposed developer of the Barrel Cactus Energy Storage facility in Peoria. The site spans 14 acres at 75th and Olive Avenues, adjacent to a planned Aligned Data Center campus, and would hold 120 megawatts of storage across 328 battery units. An electrical interconnection line to SRP's Agua Fria Substation is included in the plan. Peoria's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval at an Aug. 20 meeting. The site is owned by Van Tuyl Companies. According to the Daily Independent, Barrel Cactus Energy Storage LLC is the named applicant, and Peoria City Council is expected to consider final approval in September.

Plus Power already operates two BESS facilities in Arizona: its Sierra Estrella project in Avondale, a 250 MW facility on 11 acres that began operating in 2024 and will directly support the future Prime Data Centers campus next door, and its Superstition Energy Storage project in Gilbert, which holds up to 90 megawatts of capacity.

Larkspur, Glendale. esVolta, a firm that develops, owns and operates utility-scale BESS projects across North America, is the proposed developer of the Larkspur Energy Storage project in Glendale, which received planning and zoning approval Aug. 27. The project site spans about 37 acres at the northwest corner of Loop 303 and Olive Avenue. The land is owned by Suburban Land Reserve Inc., a real estate arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The two-phase facility is planned for 500 megawatts of capacity and would include an on-site private electric substation connecting directly to an existing APS substation next door. Under the project narrative, esVolta would lease the completed facility to APS, which would use it to store and release electricity back to its grid. The narrative states that "APS has an urgent need for new BESS facilities as their electrical loads continue to skyrocket, fossil fuels are being retired, and additional renewable energy sources are creating a need to store power and provide firm capacity."

Surprise sets safety rules. Surprise City Council passed a new zoning text amendment at a Sept. 1 meeting requiring a variable separation distance of 100 to 500 feet between any new BESS facility and an existing dwelling unit. The ordinance follows a thermal runaway event at APS's McMicken BESS facility in Surprise that caused an explosion sending four firefighters to the hospital. Goodyear passed its own zoning ordinance covering both data centers and BESS facilities in July.

Peroria City Council's vote on Barrel Cactus is expected in September; Larkspur's path to a construction timeline depends on APS's interconnection schedule.

Where to find them

Sources

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  1. aztechcouncil.org retrieved 10/09/2026 21:39
  2. Suburban Land Reserve Inc (official site) retrieved 10/09/2026 21:39

Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 10/09/2026 21:39. Every claim traces to a source.