San Francisco Supervisors Push for Moratorium on New Data Centers
San Francisco officials want to halt the expansion of any new data centers in the city for 45 days.
Supervisor Shamann Walton plans to introduce a moratorium Tuesday that would pause all city approvals while the planning committee studies potential risks and creates new codes.
As the boom in artificial intelligence, largely driven by big Silicon Valley firms, continues to drive demand for data centers, Walton’s proposal reflects growing public opposition to the infrastructure needed to support the technology. Similar moratoriums are scheduled to be considered in Richmond and Oakland in the coming weeks.
In a press release, Walton said the city’s current codes governing data centers haven’t been updated since 2001, long before the scale-up of AI.
“We should not irresponsibly support technology,” Walton said at San Francisco City Hall on Monday, flanked by supervisors Jackie Fielder, Chyanne Chen and Connie Chan.
“Without having the facts or information, that tells us will our communities be protected,” Walton said.
Of the 12 data centers in San Francisco, two are located in the Bayview neighborhood, which Walton represents. Residents in the area have raised health concerns over environmental issues for decades.
The ordinance will be introduced on Sept. 15. If approved, it could impact the planned expansion of an existing data center in the Bayview neighborhood, according to Mission Local.
Walton said the moratorium could be extended up to 220 days, and potentially longer, if approved.
A press release says San Francisco was following Southern California’s Monterey Park, which “moved from an interim moratorium to a permanent ban on Data Centers this past May.”
“We need to know all the impacts of having a data center in [the] community before we allow another data center to come inside of San Francisco,” Walton said.