GPCA Opposes Hyperscale Data Centers

The Green Party of California strongly opposes the construction of new hyperscale Data Centers and demands strict regulation of existing data centers’ expansion and operation.

August 4, 2026 - Across California, the alarming and widely un-regulated growth of hyperscale data centers is jeopardizing communities’ health and wellbeing, overwhelming utilities, draining aquifers, creating heat islands, destroying ecosystems, encroaching on public lands, and leaving ratepayers to pick up the massive cost of an expanding energy infrastructure.

Billions of dollars in investments have flooded the development of mass surveillance AI tools, Generative AI models, and the data centers they require, fed by a narrative that exponential returns in profits will soon follow. A number of Municipalities in California have scrambled to attract hi-tech and venture capitalists with tax breaks, climate accelerating deregulations, and expedited construction permits to build and deploy hyperscale data centers. Meanwhile the tech-industry lobbyists are currently pouring tens of millions of dollars into super PACs to shape AI-promoting policies in Sacramento and Washington D.C.

The fiscal impact of lost tax revenues harm every community, however low income and underserved communities bear the overwhelming burden of the water, air, soil, and noise pollution associated with data center construction and operation. The growing number of opposition campaigns by consumer protection organizations, social justice advocates, and employee-led groups with scant resources are pushing back, demanding more accountability and stronger regulations to protect communities across California.

Among the many communities urgently mobilizing against data center construction in rural and agricultural areas are Imperial County, Riverside County, Coachella Valley, and Lake Elsinore as well as urban areas across California. Currently the City of Imperial is opposing the proposed $10 billion, 1 million square-foot hyperscale data center project within a mile of several schools in a low-income community. If constructed, this data center will be the largest in California and will use double the entire county's 2024 electricity draw.

In solidarity with these groups and in alignment with our platform and principles, the Green Party of California calls on the government at the State and local levels to immediately implement the following measures regarding the building, expansion, and operation of clustered and hyperscale data centers:

1. Statewide ban of any state tax credits to new hyperscale data centers.
2. One-year state-wide moratorium on new or expanding hyperscale data centers, to allow for stakeholders engagement and precautionary principle discussions.
3. Require a review/sunset trigger for any statewide moratorium pending adoption of statewide energy and water standards.
4. Full transparency and ongoing community input on all data center construction and upgrade plans, routine public reporting of data centers’ energy and water use.
5. Implementation of large-load tariffs by the California Public Utilities Commission to fully allocate all infrastructure costs to data center operators and protect ratepayers.
6. Statewide ban of all primary combustion sources of onsite power generation, with back up power generation allowed to run ONLY during grid failure and not for the purposes of mitigating an overloaded grid.
7. Adopt noise threshold standards for both human audible range (dBA) and low frequency range (dBC) within 0.5 mile of data center projects, if not currently enacted in a jurisdiction.
8. Remove all existing Categorical Exemptions and ban any new exemptions under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for data center projects, enforce compliance with all CEQA requirements including full Environmental Impact Reports.

California State and local governments to hold hyperscale data centers accountable to:
- A renewable portfolio standard and a 100% shift to renewable electricity by 2030.
- Absorb the full cost of all environmental mitigation and clean up of contaminated soil, air, water and resources impacted by their construction and operation.
- Mitigate noise pollution and follow strict noise limits applied to projects within 0.5 mile of residential areas for both dBA and dBC range.
- Use only 100% closed-loop water cooling systems.
- Shift to using large batteries to support the grid during peak demand.
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* Hyperscale Data Centers are defined as server facilities with more than 5,000+ servers and over 10,000 square feet.
* Generative AI is a type of AI trained to recognize complex patterns and create novel, original content such as text, images, video, audio, code, etc.