The Irwindale City Council unanimously approved a data center ban through an ordinance on Wednesday, Sept. 9, in effect 30 days after adoption.
The decision makes Irwindale one of the latest cities to ban data centers in its zoning code.
The unanimous vote on Ordinance No. 821 followed a first reading on Aug. 26.
About the unanimous decision, Mayor H. Manuel Ortiz said “An ordinance on Data Centers is necessary, because I believe Irwindale should remain open to responsible Economic Development while carefully considering the great impact Data Centers would create on the Community and Residents.”
Cities across the region, such as El Monte and Monterey Park, have imposed bans and moratoriums to review the effects of data centers before contemplating regulation.
Throughout the year, data centers have raised concern across the region and nation for their potential effects on utilities and health outcomes, with the most significant being Monterey Park’s.
Monterey Park and Alhambra’s councils have gone further than ordinance bans, approving ballot initiatives to let voters decide whether to ban data centers in their city. According to proponents, ballot initiative bans are a stronger safeguard against the technology; a future council looking to overturn can only do so with another ballot initiative.
Alhambra’s ballot measure is up for a vote in the Nov. 3 election.
According to Irwindale’s Mayor Ortiz, there are no plans for a ballot initiative.
However, the ban still sets important precedent for residents in other ways.
Since the Zoning Code’s recent update, the city has recognized recent and ongoing discourse regarding the effects of data centers including: substantial and continuous electrical demand, often supported by diesel or gas-powered backup generation systems – consequently raising concerns over air quality.
Such facilities may also generate significant levels of noise, require significant water usage for cooling systems, and create pressure for related infrastructure and land-use changes.
Irwindale is also a home to Southern California Edison, which provides energy to municipalities throughout California.
Recognizing the potential environmental impacts and compatibility of such development and use within the city, direction was provided to staff and legal counsel to prepare an ordinance to prohibit data centers in Irwindale.
According to Southern California Edison spokesperson Scott Johnson, they were aware of the ordinance but note that “data center growth is more moderate than many other regions in the country” for electrical consumption.
Electric vehicles effect utility rates through the shared grid more than a potential data center would, given Irwindale’s limited space for development to the size of a data center.
“Our region, we see electrification of transportation … behind long-term electricity demand,” noting that any data center in Irwindale would have consumed less energy to one in a rural area, where there’s more space to develop because of the industrial footprint.
The ordinance will take effect on Oct. 9.