Mendocino County supervisors extend data center moratorium to 2028, with a 3-megawatt exception
Mendocino County supervisors voted 4-1 to extend the countywide moratorium on new data centers until Aug. 21, 2028. The extended ban exempts facilities using less than 3 megawatts of electricity while county officials develop permanent data center regulations.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to extend the county’s moratorium on new data centers by nearly 22 months, through Aug. 21, 2028. The extension represents the longest period allowed under state law and gives county staff and an ad hoc committee time to draft a permanent data center ordinance.
The revised moratorium exempts facilities drawing less than 3 megawatts, a threshold Supervisor Ted Williams said would accommodate small, shipping-container-sized data projects while preventing larger developments. Supervisor Maureen Mulheren cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing the threshold had been developed too quickly and without sufficient staff or community input. Planning and Building Services director Richard Angley said the county’s draft permanent ordinance had contemplated a 20-megawatt threshold.