Monterey Park voters approve Measure NDC, banning power-hungry data centers within city limits
Monterey Park voters have approved Measure NDC, which bans new data centers within city limits. This decision comes after a local group, "No Data Center Monterey Park," opposed a proposed facility, citing concerns about electricity consumption, noise, pollution, and rising utility rates. The ban represents a victory for local opposition.
Voters in Monterey Park, California, have overwhelmingly approved Measure NDC, effectively banning new data centers from being built within the city's boundaries. The "landslide victory," as described by Steven Kung, co-founder of the "No Data Center Monterey Park" group, follows a year of activism.
The citizen's group formed last year in response to plans for a 250,000 square-foot data center. Kung articulated significant concerns, stating that the proposed facility would have tripled the city's electricity usage, leading to increased rates and pollution, in addition to noise issues.
StratCap, the Australia-based company behind the initially proposed data center project, did not provide a comment to Eyewitness News. While Monterey Park has chosen to prohibit data center development, other Southern California communities, such as the City of Industry, are actively seeking to attract them, a trend that Kung's group is now also challenging.