Source: Politico | By Tyler Katzenberger, Chase Difeliciantonio, and Christine Mui

Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a California-based nonprofit, told POLITICO he noticed ”more urgency” and “more positive signals from the governor’s office” to regulate data centers this year. He contrasted it to last year, when he said “there was not a sense that California had to be out front — and in fact, California was at risk of falling behind.” 

What a difference a year makes.  Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation that would have tracked data centers’ water use and signed a pared-back study measure on their electricity rates. Just a few months ago, he was downplaying the importance of the issue altogether.

Source: From the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom |

Mark Toney, Executive Director, TURN: “Collectively these measures protect ratepayers from subsidizing the significant energy consumption of data centers, ensuring that the data centers pay upfront for the extra infrastructure that must be built to operate them, and pay their fair share for wildfire mitigation and other ratepayer-funded programs. We are grateful for the Governor’s leadership to hold these data centers accountable.”

Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the most comprehensive data center laws in the nation, providing communities more control on water, electricity, and land use. 

Source: Martin CID Magazine | By Adrian Kessler

What emerged intact was a directive for the California Public Utilities Commission to study data center energy costs by 2027 — a study of a problem regulators already have the authority to investigate. An attorney for The Utility Reform Network called it toothless, and it is hard to read it any other way.

The state was supposed to be capping AI's appetite for power and water. What actually reached the governor's desk asks data centers to open their books — and even that is one veto from vanishing.  The story California has been telling about itself this year is one of a state finally putting limits on the machines eating its power and water. The version that reached the governor is quieter and more revealing: it does not cap what a data center may draw. 

Source: The Los Angeles Times | By Blanca Begert, Dakota Smith, Ian James

“Collectively these measures protect ratepayers from subsidizing the significant energy consumption of data centers, ensuring that the data centers pay upfront for the extra infrastructure that must be built to operate them, and pay their fair share for wildfire mitigation and other ratepayer funded programs,” Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy group, said.

California just took its first concrete steps toward regulating its growing data center industry as public appetite builds to crack down on the massive facilities.  Amid widespread concerns about environmental and economic impacts of data centers, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed seven bills Monday morning aimed at protecting consumers from growing electricity costs and tracking the centers’ immense energy and water consumption.

Source: The Frisc | By Adam Brinklow

There is room for nuance, however, as the Oakland-based environmental group The Utility Reform Network acknowledges. TURN is backing several state bills to regulate data center expansion, including extra company taxes to help reinforce the public electric grid.  TURN spokesperson Lee Trotman says sites already in SF aren’t on their radar: “We don’t have much to say about them other than they use less energy and water than AI data centers.”

Last month Sup. Connie Chan, who’s running for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, released a campaign ad excoriating San Francisco’s AI boom. “AI data centers are driving up our utility costs, displacing our community, and jeopardizing our environment,” she said, standing in front of a public library.  Chan’s not the only one raging against the machines. If elected, she’ll support a moratorium on new AI data centers penned by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Source: The Plumas Sun |

If the FCC grants AT&T’s petition, the company could move forward with abandoning universal service obligations that millions of Californians rely on, particularly those living in rural communities.   RCRC joined a coalition of organizations, such as The Utility Reform Network, California Alliance for Digital Equity, California State Association of Counties and the Communications Workers of America, in submitting comments to the FCC on July 7 and July 22.

The Rural County Representatives of California reports that, in coordination with a broad coalition of consumer, local government, labor, agricultural and public interest organizations, it has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission opposing a threat to universal telephone service protections. 

Source: The Los Angeles Times | By Bianca Begert

Whatever demand materializes, TURN and others are fighting to shield ratepayers from the costs of PG&E’s buildout, a battle playing out at the Public Utilities Commission.  TURN says that costs don’t include all of the infrastructure and broader grid updates that PG&E will have to invest in to support data centers.  TURN is now backing a bill from State Sen. Steve Padilla (D-Chula Vista) that would require all data centers to pay for 100% of the costs of new transmission upgrades as well as new clean energy to cover at least half their required electricity. The industry is opposing the effort.

The nation is awash in data center hate and California is no exception.  Temporary bans have cropped up across the state as residents from Imperial County to San José fight proposals in their communities. Monterey Park became the first city in the country earlier this month to permanently ban data centers by a popular vote. And a recent poll sponsored by the environmental group Net-Zero California showed 70% of state residents don’t want data centers in their communities.

Source: Imperial Valley Press | By Staff Report

The legislative package has earned the backing of both consumer and environmental advocates, including The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Net Zero California.  “Senator Padilla’s bills include critical protections to ensure that data center development will benefit the electrical grid, consumers, and the environment,” said Matthew Freedman, staff attorney for TURN.

Two California State Senate committees took a major step this week toward ensuring that the rapid expansion of "Big Tech" infrastructure doesn't come at the expense of local families’ utility bills or the environment.