The decision wasn’t a unanimous one. Union organizers urged the City Council to consider the jobs that might be lost. At least one councilmember raised fears that the city could face expensive lawsuits from developers.
Nonetheless, the tiny northern Imperial Valley town of Calipatria decided last month to take its first step toward a permanent ban on data centers.
“At the end of the day, we will have to have this conversation,” said Calipatria Mayor Michael Luellen during the City Council meeting last Tuesday. “I believe a ban is the only way forward.”
For close to a year now, Imperial Valley residents have raised concerns about the possible environmental and public health effects of the giant computing warehouses. Those worries first emerged last November after the city of Imperial began sounding the alarm about a massive data center complex proposed next to a residential neighborhood.
At first, that project appeared to have support from key local officials, including a majority of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors. In March, the board approved a critical lot merger that the project needed in order to move forward. But now board members are backing away from the project — at least temporarily. Earlier this month, they voted to extend a pause on data center development through the middle of next year.
Four cities in the region have now discussed pausing data center development, and at least two are weighing permanent bans. The Imperial Irrigation District, the regional public utility, is also considering a special energy contract that would put data centers first in line to have their power cut when demand surges.
Data center developers and trade unions have pushed back forcefully against those restrictions — most notably, Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM), the developer of the massive data center near the city of Imperial that first drew the public’s ire in November. The company has already gone to court to challenge the county’s moratorium.
“Putting a ban on data centers is just going to hurt you guys,” Imperial County Building and Construction Trades Council Vice President Sean Ellis told the Calipatria City Council last week. “It’s just going to go somewhere else.”
The shift comes as discussions about other data centers in the valley have emerged, including a potential facility south of the old Spreckels Sugar factory.
Here’s what we know about the steps different Imperial County jurisdictions are taking to slow data center development.
Imperial County
The county Board of Supervisors has temporarily suspended all data center projects on county land through May 2027.
After months of intense public pressure, the five-member board approved an emergency moratorium in June that paused all projects for 45 days. Last week, the board voted to extend that pause into next year.
The county is also in the process of convening a new data center advisory committee that will include representatives from the county’s seven cities. That committee will study land use and zoning for data centers and report back in January.
Imperial Irrigation District
The Imperial Irrigation District, or IID, is considering a new special energy contract that would put data centers first in line to have their power cut when demand surges.
The regional public utility is the main energy provider for both the Imperial and Coachella Valleys. It also oversees the generations-old claims of Imperial Valley farmers to water from the Colorado River.
The proposed contract is called a “large load tariff.” It would apply to large data centers and other customers that need more than 20 megawatts per month.
A megawatt is a measurement of how much energy a facility is capable of receiving at any given moment. Around 100 megawatts of electric power could support electricity for 80,000 households in the United States, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
When temperatures soar in the summer and energy needs skyrocket across the valley, the tariff would allow IID to turn off power for those large energy users ahead of other customers.
In addition to putting large customers first in line for power cuts, IID’s proposed tariff would require them to sign a contract for at least 15 years and pay a significant penalty to exit it early. It also adds that large customers would have to fund any system upgrades that IID needs to serve them, including new power substations and distribution or transmission facilities.
In May, IID Director Alex Cardenas also asked the agency’s staff to look at requiring a water analysis as part of the tariff as well.
Utilities in over a dozen other states already have their own large load tariffs in place, according to the Smart Electric Power Alliance — although the exact terms of those rates can vary widely.
The agency’s board of directors is expected to vote on the potential rate schedule in the coming weeks.
Imperial
The city of Imperial has also temporarily frozen all data center development through May 2027.
In early June, the Imperial City Council approved an emergency moratorium that paused all data center projects for 45 days. Last week, the council voted to extend that pause into next year as well.
Several Imperial city officials, including City Councilmember Katie Burnworth and City Manager Dennis Morita, have been outspoken critics of the nearby massive data center complex.
Burnworth said she wants city staff to review their general plan and land use classifications for data centers during the moratorium period. She also wants to explore the possibility of the city annexing nearby parcels of county land, which would give it more control over what’s built there.
“I think Imperial County has shown that they’re not a responsible neighbor, and I want to make sure that our residents are protected,” Burnworth said.
Calexico
Calexico, the county’s second largest city, is considering permanently banning data centers.
When the Calexico City Council met on July 1, they were originally set to consider a temporary moratorium on data centers. But in a surprise decision, Councilmember Diana Nuricumbo said she would support an ordinance that would ban the facilities outright.
Nuricumbo argued the city should take that step as soon as possible so they could move on to other issues. Several other council members said they would support an outright ban as well, citing health and safety concerns.
Councilmember Adriana Marquez pointed out that the city is already fighting other major environmental fronts, including the heavily polluted New River.
“I don’t think we need other sources of pollution,” Marquez said.
The City Council voted unanimously to develop a full ban at the July 1 meeting. Council members will discuss the ban at a public hearing in the coming weeks.
Brawley
Brawley considered pausing data center development in June but has not yet made a decision.
Two Councilmembers, John Grass and Timothy Kelley, said a ban would be premature, claiming that there are no data center projects currently moving forward in Brawley.
At a May council meeting, Grass said a moratorium would send the wrong message to developers. He argued that Imperial County needs to diversify its industries beyond agriculture, and pointed to a recent report on the county’s economy by the Southern California Association of Governments.
The report found the region was under considerable economic stress — and that the best path would be to focus on geothermal power and lithium extraction.
“We must remain open and receptive to efforts to raise revenue,” Grass said in May. “With the closure of Spreckels Sugar and evolving economics of the ag industry, we must approach all future challenges with all options on the table.”
Kelley, a proponent of the controversial data center complex near Imperial, argued that Imperial County should be taking more steps to prepare their water, energy and land for development projects.
“Putting a one year-moratorium is just going to be a headline saying we don’t want your business in Brawley,” Kelley said.
The City Council is expected to continue their discussion on a potential moratorium in the coming weeks.
Calipatria
The Calipatria City Council is also set to discuss a permanent ban on data centers in the coming weeks.
The town of around 6,500 was the first to consider a potential moratorium on the large-scale computing facilities back in May. But the Calipatria City Council never formally voted to approve it.
Instead, the city has been developing an even stricter ordinance that would outlaw data centers within city limits. Like in other cities, such a ban would not apply to unincorporated county land.
On July 14, the council voted 3-2 to advance that potential ban, with Councilmembers Sylvia Chavez and Javier Amezcua voting against. Chavez cautioned that a ban could expose the city to expensive lawsuits.
“A sudden, complete ban carries a high risk of litigation,” Chavez said. “A more effective and legally sound approach is to prioritize a comprehensive rewrite of our current ordinances.”
Councilmember Jesse Rivas voted to advance the potential ban, citing environmental concerns and questions about the number of long-term jobs.
“The water usage and the power usage, it’s just something that’s going to come, and it’s just going to continue,” Rivas said.
The City Council will publish the full text of the ordinance and, in the coming weeks, they will hold a public hearing where they will discuss the potential ban.
