Coachella residents call for data center moratorium as debate expands across Southern California

Name: Coachella residents call for data center moratorium as debate expands across Southern California
Uploaded: 2026-04-28T00:09:29.000Z
Duration: 1 min 8 s
Description: Coachella residents are calling for a moratorium and public discussion on a proposed 240-acre data center campus due to concerns over its impact on the local power grid, specifically the Imperial Irrigation District (IID). City officials have not yet approved the project, which will require a full environmental impact report, and some council members support public discussion.

News Clip1:08KPBS Public Media·Coachella, Riverside County, CA·4/28/2026

Coachella residents are calling for a moratorium and public discussion on a proposed 240-acre data center campus due to concerns over its impact on the local power grid, specifically the Imperial Irrigation District (IID). City officials have not yet approved the project, which will require a full environmental impact report, and some council members support public discussion.

moratoriumzoningoppositionenvironmentalgovernmentelectricity

Gov: Coachella City Council, Imperial Irrigation District

Residents in the City of Coachella are actively pushing back against a proposed 240-acre data center campus, urging the Coachella City Council to hold a public discussion and enact a moratorium on such developments. This local opposition is part of a broader debate emerging across Southern California concerning the proliferation of AI data centers.

Stephanie Ambree, a Coachella resident, highlighted concerns that the data centers' connection to the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) would impact existing customers across the Coachella Valley and Imperial County. Ambree emphasized that the city, currently working to establish its own municipal utility, deserves a say in the future development of its power infrastructure, asserting that a utility can be built without these data centers.

This local struggle mirrors a similar fight against a massive data center project in the Imperial Valley to the south. A recent Pew Research Center study indicates that most new data centers are being proposed in rural areas. Coachella city officials state that nothing has been approved yet and the project would necessitate a full environmental impact report, with several city council members reportedly advocating for a public discussion.