Opinion: Data centers are coming. Let’s rethink who owns them.
A proposed large data center in Imperial County is stalled after a court ruling required a full environmental review. The opinion argues that communities should have a formal role in governing and benefiting from data centers, potentially through steward-ownership models, as Imperial and San Diego counties consider resource use and local economic impacts.
A proposal for one of California’s largest data centers in Imperial County has intensified debate over water and electricity consumption, infrastructure costs, environmental impacts and the benefits such facilities provide to nearby communities. The project is stalled after a court ruling required a comprehensive environmental review. San Diego County communities are also weighing the broader implications of large-scale data center development, while California has enacted legislation addressing the sector’s environmental and resource demands.
The authors argue that regulation, environmental review and community-benefit negotiations should be supplemented by alternative ownership structures. They propose models such as perpetual purpose trusts, governed by independent experts and community representatives, that could give local stakeholders a formal role in decisions about resource use, infrastructure investment and the distribution of economic benefits.