$3B Prime Data Centers PHX01 Campus in Avondale Needs 10 Low Voltage Systems

Prime Data Centers broke ground on May 21, 2026 on the first three buildings of PHX01, a $3 billion, five-building hyperscale campus in Avondale, Arizona. When complete, the 66.5-acre site will deliver 1.3 million square feet, 240 MW of critical IT power, and 20 data halls — and it requires all ten core low voltage systems, with an estimated LV opportunity of $120 million.

Project Overview

PHX01 sits roughly 19 miles west of downtown Phoenix via I-10, in Avondale's fast-growing industrial corridor. Prime Data Centers, a Dallas-based hyperscale developer and operator, is driving the project with a planned investment exceeding $3 billion — and Prime has said tenant customers are expected to invest roughly double that amount on top in IT fit-out.

The numbers on this campus are serious even by 2026 hyperscale standards:

• 66.5 acres — full campus footprint
• Five buildings — each 267,000 sq ft delivering 48 MW of critical IT load
• 1.3 million sq ft — total campus at buildout
• 240 MW — total critical power across 20 data halls
• 250 MW on-site SRP substation — Phase I supports the first 144 MW

Construction is underway now. An undisclosed hyperscale tenant has already leased Buildings 1 through 3 — the entire 144 MW first phase — while Prime markets Buildings 4 and 5 to single- or multi-tenant hyperscale users. The campus is designed for next-generation AI and high-performance computing workloads, with a closed-loop cooling system engineered for zero process water use during operations — a meaningful design choice in the Arizona desert, where water and grid capacity dominate the data center conversation.

Key Players

Role	Company	Notes
Owner / Developer / Operator	Prime Data Centers	Dallas-based hyperscale developer; $3B+ investment at PHX01
General Contractor	ARCO/Murray	Site development, underground multi-discipline coordination, private substation coordination, core and shell for Buildings 1–3
Utility	SRP (Salt River Project)	Operating a 250 MW on-site substation; Phase I delivers 144 MW of IT capacity
Tenant (Buildings 1–3)	Undisclosed hyperscaler	Leased the full 144 MW first phase before groundbreaking

ARCO/Murray's scope is worth a second look for LV subcontractors: major site development, underground coordination across multiple disciplines, and substation coordination all mean the outside plant, ductbank, and grounding packages are being scoped and let now, during the earliest phase of construction.

Low Voltage Systems Breakdown

Signal's analysis identifies ten low voltage systems in play at PHX01 — the full hyperscale stack:

System	Scope at PHX01	Complexity
Fiber / Outside Plant	Campus backbone, carrier entry, inter-building duct routes across 66.5 acres and five buildings	High
Structured Cabling	20 data halls with infrastructure galleries; white space cabling across 1.3M sq ft	High
Access Control	Multi-layer perimeter-to-cabinet security across a phased, multi-tenant-capable campus	High
CCTV / Video Surveillance	Perimeter, lobby, corridor, and hall coverage; hyperscaler tenant standards apply	High
Fire Alarm / VESDA	Aspirating smoke detection and clean-agent integration across 20 halls	High
BMS / Controls	Closed-loop cooling monitoring, zero-process-water thermal management, substation interface	High
Networking	Meet-me rooms, carrier diversity, AI/HPC-ready fabric support	High
DAS	In-building coverage across concrete-heavy 267K sq ft shells	Medium
Grounding & Bonding	Signal reference grids, lightning protection, substation-adjacent bonding	High

Estimated Low Voltage Value: $120M

The project database does not carry a pre-computed LV value for PHX01, so we apply Signal's hyperscale data center benchmark of approximately 4% of total project value for low voltage and structured infrastructure scope. Against the $3 billion campus investment, that puts the estimated LV opportunity at roughly $120 million across the full five-building buildout — cabling, security, fire, controls, and grounding packages phased over multiple years. The first phase alone (three buildings, 144 MW) represents an estimated $70M+ of that total. And remember Prime's own guidance: tenants are expected to spend roughly double the developer's investment on fit-out, which historically pulls additional cabling and integration scope with it.

Skills & Certifications

Hyperscale campuses like PHX01 have a well-defined certification stack for LV crews:

• BICSI RCDD and DCDC — data center design credentials are increasingly required at bid time
• BICSI INSTC/INSTF and FOA CFOT — fiber installation and testing at campus backbone scale
• NICET Fire Alarm Level II+ — with VESDA/aspirating detection and clean-agent suppression experience
• Access control and video manufacturer certs — Genetec, Lenel, Software House, Axis are the common hyperscaler standards
• IEEE/BICSI grounding and bonding — signal reference grids and lightning protection adjacent to a 250 MW substation
• IEC 62443 awareness — BMS/OT cybersecurity requirements are now standard on AI-era campuses

Market Signal: Phoenix Is a Top-Two Data Center Market

Arizona has spent the last decade becoming one of the two largest data center markets in the world alongside Northern Virginia, and the West Valley — Avondale, Goodyear, Buckeye — is where the current wave is landing. Electricity prices roughly 20% below California, a ten-year sales tax exemption, and low natural disaster risk keep pulling hyperscale capital into the metro.

The constraint is power: Arizona's 2026 strategic energy plan warned that proposed data center loads could nearly triple demand on APS and SRP, requiring up to 29,000 MW of new generation. That is exactly why PHX01's dedicated 250 MW SRP substation and zero-process-water cooling matter — projects that solve their own power and water story are the ones that break ground. For low voltage contractors, the takeaway is straightforward: the Phoenix pipeline is deep, the labor market for electrical and specialty trades is tightening, and crews with data center credentials are commanding premium rates. PHX01 is the first Arizona project we have spotlighted — it will not be the last.

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