What was said about data centers in California
48 statements from 36 speakers, grouped by who spoke. Each appears as said, with the date and the source. No verdict is attached.
From June 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026. Statements from every state are on Statements.
Data center companies 6
Developers, operators and builders of data centers and the technology companies that fill them, speaking through their staff and spokespeople. Every state.
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Microsoft says its newest liquid cooled AI data centers use direct to chip closed loops with zero water evaporation
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Oracle says its AI facilities use direct to chip closed loops with zero water evaporation in New Mexico, Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin
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Darren Eades, JLL Senior Managing Director, said pricing has become less important for groups that need capacity quickly, and developers are tying up land and beginning entitlement and development work, with a couple of groups preparing to announce their first significant Southern California deployments.
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JLL said resistance to data centers in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona due to limited power capacity and community opposition is pushing developers back toward Southern California.
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JLL
Vernon, a Southern California city with its own utility, is approaching capacity and needs infrastructure expansion before taking more data center projects.
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Prologis contributed $250,000 to the Yes on Proposition 45 campaign through its Modern Infrastructure Alliance Action Fund.
Government 17
Officials in office, lawmakers, regulators, public agencies and courts, federal, state, tribal and local. Every state.
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Governor of California
Governor Gavin Newsom said California enacted the strongest data center protections in the nation, aimed at increasing oversight and preventing electricity, water, and infrastructure costs from being shifted to local communities and ratepayers
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Governor of California
Newsom ordered officials to accelerate AI oversight and develop recommendations for an emergency kill switch for frontier AI models
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California state senator
Jerry McNerney, state senator, said the bills ensure data centers absorb the costs of their energy use, not California ratepayers
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California Governor
Newsom said: While the Trump administration moves toward deregulation, communities are left to deal with the consequences , higher electricity demand, grid constraints, water use, and pollution. With these laws, we are ensuring that Californians remain in the driver's seat , and that those profiting from data centers aren't doing so at our expense.
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Senator, D-San Diego
Sen. Steve Padilla, D San Diego, introduced Senate Bills 886 and 887 which ensure data centers pay all required transmission infrastructure upgrade costs and generation costs.
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Amy Bodek, Department of Regional Planning Director, issued memorandum as interim guidance while county moves to codify prohibition in zoning regulations
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Gilroy City Council
Amazon data center project on 56 acre parcel zoned for heavy industrial use is not affected by the moratorium; Amazon is said to be considering a second data center which would be halted by the freeze.
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U.S. Representative (D-California)
Rep. Ro Khanna proposed a Data Center Bill of Rights that would ban data centers within 2,500 feet of homes, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals and nursing homes
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Shamann Walton, San Francisco Supervisor
San Francisco data center codes have not been updated since 2001.
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California Assemblyman
Assemblyman Rick Zbur authored legislation requiring the California Public Utilities Commission to create a special electricity rate structure for large data centers so power costs don't shift to regular ratepayers
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Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, said the administration wants to support companies like Prologis and committed to accelerating permitting.
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Rick Zbur, California Assemblyman
The proposed legislation requires data centers to sign long term contracts to purchase power, cover wildfire related costs, and contribute to grid upgrades
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EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated plan aims to advance cooperative federalism with states; rule expected to be finalized next year
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Patterson City officials
City officials said the additional time will allow Patterson to examine potential effects on water supplies, energy infrastructure, air quality and noise levels.
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Patterson city attorney
Patterson remains in the early stages of determining how it will regulate the developments.
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U.S. Representative from California
Rep. Ro Khanna, D Calif., called for a Data Center Bill of Rights and introduced a resolution in August 2026 laying out suggested guardrails on data centers
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California Governor
Gavin Newsom previously vetoed similar water disclosure legislation in October 2025, stating he was reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements without understanding full impact on businesses
Chief executives 5
Chief executives, presidents, founders and chairs of companies, in technology, data centers, power and elsewhere. Every state.
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Digital Realty CEO Andy Power said the project will strengthen intercontinental connectivity across the company's Los Angeles campus and create a more scalable environment for customers connecting across regions.
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co-founder and managing director, Net Zero California
Sam Uden, co founder and managing director at Net Zero California, said state lawmakers have met the moment with robust set of protections.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it takes 38,000 ChatGPT queries to use as much water as producing a single almond in California
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Jim Trout is CEO with experience as president of CRG West and Senior VP at Digital Realty Trust
Utilities and grid operators 1
Electric utilities, cooperatives and the operators of the power grid, and the people who speak for them. Every state.
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PG&E contributed $500,000 to the Yes on Proposition 45 campaign.
Candidates and campaigns 1
People running for office, their campaigns and their parties. A candidate who does not hold the office is not an official. Every state.
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Congressional candidate
Eric Jones called for a national moratorium on data centers
Business groups and unions 1
Chambers of commerce, trade associations and labor unions. Every state.
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Steamfitters UA Local 602 represents HVAC and pipe workers in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia data center alley
Advocates and residents 2
Advocacy and community groups on every side, residents, neighbors and people speaking at public meetings. Every state.
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Edward Ring, Director of Water and Energy Policy at Californians for Energy and Water Abundance, argues concerns about data center water and energy use may be overstated
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executive director, The Utility Reform Network
Mark W. Toney, executive director of Utility Reform Network, praised laws saying they protect ratepayers from subsidizing data center energy consumption.
Researchers and analysts 5
Universities, research institutes, think tanks, pollsters, economists and consultants. Every state.
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Senior Fellow, California Environmental Law & Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law
Richard Frank, Senior Fellow at the California Environmental Law & Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law, and Matthew McKerley, a land use attorney, stated that Proposition 45 would fast track the construction of data centers by rolling back state environmental protections.
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Mark Specht, senior manager for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said it is extremely frustrating to try to understand basic information about data centers.
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founder of AllAI Consulting
Mashika Allgood stated one data center can use more than 1 million gallons of water a day
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Shaolei Ren, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Riverside
Experts say insufficient public data makes verification of data center water use claims impossible
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UC San Diego Chancellor
Pradeep K. Khosla, Chancellor, said the research has potential to transform how AI data centers interact with the electric grid
Other voices 10
Journalists, lawyers, former officials, and speakers the source describes in words that name none of the groups above. Every state.
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senior climate reporter, WIRED
Molly Taft said hundreds of new data centers have popped up across the country, sparking backlash from residents over water usage, energy consumption, and economic concerns.
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senior climate reporter, WIRED
Molly Taft said the Trump administration came in guns blazing on American AI, and data centers suddenly started cropping up in places where they had not traditionally been before, but neither left nor right politicians were prepared for a truly grassroots movement opposing their construction.
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senior climate reporter, WIRED
Molly Taft, senior climate reporter at WIRED, said data center opposition is uniting people from the complete opposite ends of the political spectrum, unlike most other political issues.
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Richard Evans citing Microsoft
Microsoft's newest liquid cooled AI data centers use direct to chip closed loops with zero water evaporation
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Matthew McKerley, environmental attorney with Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP, said Prologis is bankrolling Proposition 45 to silence communities on data center siting.
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Representative
Thompson said local communities should take the lead and urged slowing data center development
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Representative
Thompson said data centers need protections for water, electric rates and workers
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Representative
Mike Thompson said data centers could displace farms, consume water, and create few jobs
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Representative
Thompson said we need to pump the brakes on data center rollout and require local control
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San Diego Supercomputer Center director
Brian Balderston, director of infrastructure and data centers for SDSC, said data centers can be active participants in grid stability
The group comes from the words the source gives for the speaker; how the groups are read. Every statement on the record is in CSV and JSON, with its group and its state.
