Amid outcry, this California city may block data centers on its turf

Amidst national debate over the rapid expansion of data centers, a city in Imperial County has become the county’s first to formally consider temporarily blocking them.

Calipatria city council voted on Tuesday to draft a plan that, if approved, could impose a moratorium on data center projects in city limits for five years.

“I believe data centers, the only place that they exist, is in hell,” said Calipatria Mayor Michael Leullen.

Concerns over data center projects have been spreading throughout the region as residents have been fighting what could become California’s largest data center. The project site is lined by homes and near schools on unincorporated Imperial County land near the city of Imperial. 

The developer argues that the project does not require formal state environment review because the land is zoned for industrial use.

That is a claim that is being disputed in court. 

City of Imperial officials have logged their concerns about the project moving ahead without undergoing a review under the California Environmental Quality Act, as well as concerns over noise and hazardous emissions, along with possible fires, explosions and toxins, which they outlined in a 231-page complaint in court. 

Francisco Leal, a resident whose backyard lines the property, attended the meeting in Calipatria to raise awareness over the fight he and his neighbors have been facing. He views the moratorium as a crucial response.

“Placing a moratorium is being proactive,” Leal said.  “It’s trying to stop you from getting into the situation that we’re in right now.”

Calipatria Mayor Michael Leullen said that the council will now discuss the details of the proposal, including possibly altering the moratorium so that it can resist legal challenges.

Part of Calipatria is also in the footprint of Lithium Valley, an area lining the Southern part of the Salton Sea that is undergoing review to become a lithium extraction hub. That stretch of land, rich in resources yet environmentally distressed, also includes potential data centers in its zoning.

The site has garnered national attention for its large quantities of lithium, a substance used for making batteries and other electronics. Gavin Newsom has referred to the area as the “Saudi Arabia” of lithium.

Proponents of data center and Lithium Valley projects say that they will bring jobs and boost the local economy in a county grappling with a very high unemployment rate and one of the lowest median incomes in the state.

But, like with data centers, lithium projects have also faced community pushback, with many residents worrying over the environmental and public health impacts, as well as how extractive economies use local resources with limited returns for locals.

“We’re being leveraged with all of our problems with solutions from bigger corporations that feel that they can come in and fix it for us at the sale of our receipts to our problems,” said Julian Daniel, an Imperial Valley resident who attended the meeting.