The Other Anti-Data Center Movement: California’s Sky-High Electricity Prices
Source: The Los Angeles Times |By Bianca Begert
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.
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.
