Black San Diegans Split On Data Centers In The City – The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint

Black San Diegans Split On Data Centers In The City  The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint

San Diego pauses new AI data center applications for 45 days as residents debate environmental impacts, rising utility costs, and development. Data centers have become a hotly contested topic across the country, even affecting the way people are voting in the 2026 midterms. AI companies are pumping in billions of dollars to secure land and resources for these storage and compute factories to power their models. The City of San Diego unanimously voted Tuesday to pause new applications for such centers. Sponsored by Mayor Todd Gloria, the ordinance places a 45-day ban on data center applications and will give the city time to draw up a plan for how data centers can be built.

Be the first to know about breaking news, articles, and updates. Already, an investment company is pitching to build a 400-megawatt data center at the site of the Naval Information Warfare Systems (NAVWAR) Command in Old Town. Communities across the country, including Black communities, are pushing back against data centers, citing their energy and water use, rising utility bills, noise, pollution and a lack of transparency from local officials. The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint gauged the thoughts of some Black residents about data centers. While some say the centers are detrimental to the environment and cause their electricity bills to rise, others say they are