Proposed moratorium on new Oakland data centers passed by city council committee

Data centers are moving into the spotlight across the Bay Area, as cities try to figure out what they need to know before approving projects.

And on Tuesday, Oakland's City Council weighed in. The council's Life Enrichment Committee passed a 45-day moratorium new data centers, moving the proposal forward for consideration by the full City Council for their October 6 agenda. 

Councilmember Charlene Wang is among city leaders pushing for a closer look.

"Data center hardware is billowing up throughout the country and we need to study it," Wang said.

She added that she also wants the 45-day pause to result in a plan for the city to better understand the potential local impacts.

"But in addition, what I want at the end of those 45 days is a work plan," she said. "So that we can think through local impacts."

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran also voiced her support for a moratorium, despite the potential economic implications of pressing pause and potentially deciding against moving forward with these projects.

"We want jobs. We want industry. We want economic development. We want these buildings to be filled with people and for the storefronts," Ramachandran said. "But we just don't want anyone setting up shop here."

The debate, in part, centers around a proposed data center at 415 20th Street in Oakland. The four-story building once housed a supercomputer facility for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Developer Colin Behring wants to use part of the building for data center operations and has reportedly argued that the project would look very different from the massive data campuses now being proposed elsewhere.

But much like in other cities across the Bay Area, Oakland residents have concerns. That's what brought a big crowd out to City Hall on Tuesday. Quinn Eide, an organizer of the rally, said residents want a greater say in how the city approaches the growth of data centers and artificial intelligence.

"I think people are tired of being dictated by these big companies," Eide said. "We have been told again and again that AI is inevitable. When it is really us, the community that gets to dictate the terms, so this is a good moment to see that happening."