In light of recent consideration by a local developer to construct a 400-megawatt data center at the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command near Old Town, Mayor Todd Gloria Friday signed a moratorium on any such facility in the city.
The moratorium will head before the San Diego City Council on Monday. If passed, it would temporarily pause data center development within city limits until the city can develop regulations.
"San Diego is a city of innovation, and I want us to continue leading in the technologies and jobs of the future," said Mayor Todd Gloria. "But we cannot allow a rapidly expanding industry to get ahead of the rules needed to protect our residents. Data centers can place significant demands on our water supply, electricity grid and limited land, with consequences for utility bills, housing opportunities and neighborhoods."
The San Diego-based Manchester Financial Group floated the idea of a data center on part of the 70-acre site, known as NAVWAR, as it undergoes redevelopment.
Ted Eldredge, president and CEO of that company, said the data center was one of several ideas and that nothing had been finalized.
"Manchester Financial Group's priority for the Old Town Campus redevelopment is delivering modern facilities for NAVWAR, and we remain committed to working with the Navy and other community stakeholders to do so throughout this process," he wrote in a statement. "Several other project elements are being considered such as retail, commercial, industrial and hospitality uses. The possibilities of a medical center, university campus, defense industry campus, data center and life science facility are also being explored."
The 400-MW data center, if completed, would be the largest one in the state.
"As for the concept of a data center, our development team had early, informational conversations with energy providers to understand what might be feasible, but there are no negotiations underway and no agreements in place," Eldredge wrote.
If Gloria's executive order passes, city staff would have a deadline of 180 days to bring forward preliminary recommendations to the mayor and council. A "Data Center Stakeholder Working Group" will be created to do that work, with representatives with expertise in fields ranging from technology, utilities, water, land use, housing and community advocacy, a statement from the mayor's office read.
The moratorium would also direct Gloria's government affairs team to "develop or support legislation protecting communities from the impacts of data centers, including facilities located on state or federal property outside the city's local land-use authority."
