The West Covina City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 15, unanimously approved a resolution to oppose large-scale data centers and battery energy storage system facilities from being built in the city.
Data center bans have been the talk of the San Gabriel Valley, since a proposed data center project in Monterey Park faced strong resident pushback last year.
After months of community organizing, Monterey Park residents overwhelmingly voted for Measure NDC in July, which banned data center development in their city. The measure’s passage marked the first data center ban in California.
A few weeks later and a city over, the Alhambra City Council followed Monterey Park’s footsteps by placing a similar data center ban measure on the November ballot.
Now, the West Covina City Council has directed staffers to find regulations which can be implemented against large-scale data centers and BESS facilities from being built in the city. Advocates opposing data centers say industrial battery facilities are infrastructure necessary to power large-scale data centers.
However, West Covina’s resolution states that it does not constitute any form of final determination against future developments.
Councilmember Ollie Cantos spearheaded the resolution’s passage.
Cantos said in an interview before the meeting that many West Covina residents have voiced concerns about the environmental impacts from large-scale data centers, a sentiment echoed in communities across the country.
As a fellow for the nonprofit group Water Education for Latino Leaders, Cantos said he understands the adverse impacts data centers would have on West Covina’s water supply.
Cantos also said that BESS facilities have the potential to cause fires, and with the five recent fires in West Covina, these industrial batteries could be dangerous for West Covina residents.
As Cantos was getting out of an Uber while talking about the resolution, the driver said: “I support no data centers.”
Councilmember Tony Wu also supported the resolution, stating in an email that both large-scale data centers and BESS facilities have spurred public safety as well as cost concerns.
“Battery storage facilities raise concerns about potential fire hazards and possible impacts on the health and safety of our community,” Wu stated. “Data centers also present significant concerns that we should carefully evaluate, including their substantial energy and water consumption, as well as potential fire and other public safety risks.”
On BESS facilities, Cantos said the potential fire risks that come with these facilities are especially concerning to West Covina as the city experienced five fires in the past five months.
During public comment, Leslie Garcia, who is running for West Covina City Council District 2 and a vocal advocate against large-scale data center development in the San Gabriel Valley, said she supports the City Council’s resolution and believes it should be permanent.
“If we could have a forever ban against these sorts of facilities, it would hold companies accountable and it would help unite the larger region to prioritize people over profit,” Garcia said in an interview.
The council briefly deliberated on the resolution during the meeting. After city staff briefed the council on the resolution, Cantos asked the city staffer to issue a letter to the City of Industry, opposing the proposed data center at Puente Hills Mall, which he requested originally.
In January, City of Industry documents revealed a proposed large-scale data center at the Puente Hills Mall, which residents in Rowland Heights neighboring the project raised concerns about. The Rowland Heights Community Coordinating Council, a liaison between the unincorporated area’s residents and the county, called on neighboring cities to approve moratoriums on data center development a few months later, which includes West Covina.
“We need to send a letter there expressing our opposition, because even if it’s a neighboring city, it does affect our area,” Cantos said.
Data centers have become a flashpoint in local and national politics. Even as local residents decry their potential impact on utility, water and environmental costs, President Donald Trump said this week that data centers make people and states wealthy. He called them “the oil of the next 20, 25 years,” as they power a boom in artificial intelligence.
But in West Covina, the resolution against them passed unanimously without further discussion from other council members.
Cantos said a resolution’s unanimous passage is “not common” in West Covina because of the sharp divide between councilmembers. On one side, Cantos said is Wu, Mayor Letty Lopez-Viado and Councilwoman Rosario Diaz, and on the other side is Councilmember Brian Gutierrez and Cantos.
As a lifelong resident of West Covina, Garcia said it has been difficult watching the city council because of the fractured relationships between council members.
“It keeps the city from being proactive about the needs of the residents and these decisions shouldn’t just come around election time,” she said. “If [opposing data centers] is a way to unite us, and especially a city council that’s so divisive, it makes me hopeful for the future.”