CALIFORNIA STATE – California’s artificial intelligence boom is not just happening inside San Francisco offices or Silicon Valley startups. It is also showing up in city planning files, environmental reviews, utility requests, military energy projects and neighborhood fights over land, power, water and diesel backup generators.
As of July 2026, California had 45 operating data centers totaling about 899 megawatts of capacity, with another 27 planned projects that could add roughly 1,773 megawatts, according to data-center tracking firm Cleanview.
Not every project below is at the same stage. Some are approved. Some are under environmental review. Some are already under construction. One is in political limbo. And not every company labels its project as an “AI data center.”…