Earlier this month, Monterey Bay became the first city in the U.S. by popular vote to permanently ban data center occupancy. However, this is only a continuation of California’s unique position with the new technological frontier.
With industrial electricity prices sitting over double the national average, state regulation surrounding the size of backup generators and lengthy waiting periods to connect to the grid, California is considerably shielded from data centers’ impacts.
While this does not mean immunity to this electric evolution, it results in a significantly smaller demand to house it. There are currently 54 facilities planned in California with 277 already in operation. This is a prospective 19% increase in the state, one which has doubled in data center electricity usage in four years…