Why this matters

Imperial County leaders are hitting pause on data center developments amid growing national attention to their resource demands and local effects.

Imperial County supervisors voted unanimously to halt all pending and future data center projects for a minimum of 45 days after months of resident opposition focused on high energy and water use along with environmental and public health risks.

The board will also create an advisory group tasked with delivering zoning and construction recommendations for data centers by January 2027.

Adopted through an urgency ordinance, the moratorium may be extended for an additional 10 months and 15 days until the committee completes its work, though one developer has already signaled plans to contest the decision legally.

The decision came unexpectedly. Only three months earlier the supervisors had voted 4-1 to move forward a nearly 1-million-square-foot data center that backers described as the largest in California.

Supervisors Ryan Kelley and John Hawk, who previously supported expanding tech infrastructure to diversify the local economy, joined colleagues in backing the pause after a three-hour hearing to allow more study.

Kelley likened coordinated planning to a body working in unison, while Hawk expressed concern that residents should never feel unsafe in their homes.

Both had earlier supported a land merger for the project that sparked much of the opposition. Developer Sebastian Rucci indicated he would sue, arguing the action undermines prior efforts and sends negative signals to investors.

County counsel stated that no current applications have vested rights, leaving projects subject to the new pause. Rucci later proposed relocating the facility farther from homes, yet the Sierra Club continues its court challenge and urged thorough environmental analysis under CEQA.

Residents have pressed for full state environmental review, which developers have argued is unnecessary under existing county rules. The 19-member advisory committee will include supervisors, city representatives, and voices from environmental, labor, health, education and business sectors to shape future policy.