What happened
San Francisco's board of supervisors has unanimously voted to impose a 45-day moratorium on new data centers, which can be extended up to 22 months. This decision aims to pause new projects while city planning officials study the effects of data centers on energy, water, air quality, land use, and surrounding communities.
Despite being a hub for AI development in the United States, with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic based there, the city lacks a comprehensive tally of its existing data centers. According to reports, there are at least six sites, with two projects currently on hold due to the freeze.
The moratorium will halt the expansion of a facility in Bayview and a proposed data center on the Dogpatch waterfront. City officials have expressed concerns about the impacts of data centers, with Supervisor Shamann Walton stating that the city needs to understand these effects before proceeding.
This move is part of a broader trend of opposition to data centers, with over 800 opposition groups across 49 states and numerous statehouses introducing or adopting rules to regulate the industry.