Voters in California City Become First in US to Approve Permanent Ban on Data Centers

Voters in Monterey Park, California on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a permanent ban on data centers within city limits, becoming the first city in the US to prohibit the power-hungry facilities via a ballot initiative.In total, the anti-data center resolution passed with 86 voter support, with only 14 of voters opposed. The resolution's text said that a ban was necessary to protect air quality, drinking water resources, and public health and prevent impacts to electricity and water rates.Steven Kung, a leader of the local initiative, told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that the result was a landslide victory.Kung listed multiple reasons why residents in the city resoundingly rejected building data centers in their community.The noise pollution, the air pollution, the rise in the electricity rates, he said, the deal just didn't make sense and it doesn't make sense for most, if not all, cities data centers go to.In an interview with Politico, Monterey Park Mayor Elizabeth Yang predicted that her city would be far from the last to pass data center bans, noting data center projects have spurred protests across the country.A lot of the other cities that are facing data center proposals are going to follow suit, said Yang. There's [a] bad reputation across the board, across the country, from other data centers that have been built in neighborhoods.Monterey Park city councilmember Jose Sanchez expressed a similar sentiment, telling The Guardian that he hoped his city would become a inspiration to others.We hope that other communities will use the model set by residents here in Monterey Park, said Sanchez, as inspiration to stop data centers from encroaching in their backyard.Data centers have become political lightning rods in recent months, as residents across the country object to their massive resource consumption, which is leading to a major spike in utility bills, as well as the noise pollution they generate.Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) earlier this year introduced a bill that would impose a nationwide moratorium on AI data center construction “until strong national safeguards are in place to protect workers, consumers, and communities, defend privacy and civil rights, and ensure these technologies do not harm our environment.A poll released on Wednesday by Public First showed US residents more opposed to data center construction than any nation in the world, with just 26 of Americans registering support for building more data centers.This opposition isn't merely abstract, as it has caused major headaches for Big Tech firms that have been scrambling to increase their AI models' compute power.As The Financial Times reported on Thursday, dozens of projects collectively worth at least 156 billion have been blocked or stalled since 2025 thanks to local opposition to their development.