The Pittsburg City Council is preparing to join several other Bay Area jurisdictions in implementing temporary restrictions on new data centers.
Council members voted 4-0 on Monday to direct staff to prepare a 45-day moratorium on further development of any artificial intelligence data centers, which have been at the center of a nationwide controversy over their impact on the environment and quality of life.
The pause on data center development would apply to new projects and phases II and III of the AVAIO Perseus Data Center project, an artificial intelligence data center approved in 2024 for the 76-acre Pittsburg Technology Park. It’s also the site of a former city-owned golf course.
Phase I of the project could move ahead during the potential moratorium, according to a statement from the city.
Several other jurisdictions have done the same, or are preparing similar moves, including the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, which passed a similar resolution at its meeting Tuesday.
The cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Gilroy have also passed temporary moratoriums, which are designed to give local policymakers time to consider more long-term legislation to regulate data centers, or ban them outright.
The Pittsburg City Council will consider the moratorium at its meeting on Oct. 26.
