Oakland puts temporary pause on new data centers
The Oakland City Council unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on new data center construction to give city staff time to develop regulations addressing worker protection, electricity demand and environmental impacts. The pause follows proposed or planned facilities involving The Behring Company, Prometheus and Tesla, while residents and organizers push for a permanent ban.
Oakland’s City Council unanimously enacted a 45-day moratorium on new data center construction, allowing officials time to study the facilities and create a local regulatory framework. Councilmember Carroll Fife, who authored the measure, said the pause was necessary to prevent applications from being submitted under existing rules before new regulations could be adopted.
The moratorium follows plans involving The Behring Company, which is seeking a 20,000-square-foot facility at the former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory supercomputer site, as well as leases by Prometheus and Tesla in West Oakland. Organizers and many residents cited data centers’ electricity and water demands and called for a broader ban, while other residents argued that the facilities could bring innovation, tax revenue and economic benefits to a city facing a budget deficit.