Voters in a city near Los Angeles appear to be the first in the nation to approve an all-out ban on data centers.
About 86 percent of voters in Monterey Park, Calif., voted in favor of the measure in Tuesday’s elections, according to election results from the county clerk.
The measure declares a prohibition on data centers citywide in order to “protect air quality, drinking water resources and public health” and “prevent impacts to electricity and water rates.”
It comes in response to a proposed data center project in Monterey Park, which was ultimately withdrawn earlier this year after the city council adopted a moratorium on data center construction.
Data center moratoriums and restrictions have gained traction across the country at the state and local level in the face of rising community pushback to the sprawling server warehouses that are central to the AI boom.
A Wisconsin city passed a referendum targeting data center construction in April. It required large-scale projects that receive tax benefits to secure approval from local voters following the construction of a local data center campus that received tax incentives.
PERCEPTION RESET 