A proposed ban on data centers is headed for a city committee next month after officials pulled a proposal from the council’s agenda that would have paired a data center project with a veterans' workforce-training initiative.
Ward 1 Councilmember Philip Falcone told the Gazette he has been developing a citywide data center ban for several months, but without a deadline in mind.
That changed, however, when the Economic Development Committee in June advanced a data center project in Riverside — a partnership with nonprofit group Institute for Veterans & Emerging Technology Skills (iVETS) and StemWorx Inc. — framed around job creation for military veterans.
The first phase of that project involved finding office space in Riverside to train veterans in high-tech fields; the second phase involved the development of a data center in the city, operated by StemWorx and staffed by veterans.
That project made its way to the City Council's Aug. 11 agenda, but was removed by city staff.
The iVets proposal will return to the council’s Land Use Committee, but will involve the first phase only — with "no new construction, no new utility infrastructure, and no land use entitlements,” according to iVets chair Alan Stanly in an Aug. 18 letter to the Land Use Committee.
The case for a data center ban
Because of this, Falcone said his data center ban’s timeline has now become urgent, and it is likely go before the Land Use Committee on Sept. 14 — and then, if advanced, to the council to vote in the coming months.
Falcone said his concern centers on Riverside's limited resources and land.
The city currently has only one connection to the statewide electrical grid, he said, and already struggles to meet demand on hot summer days. Adding a data center, he said, raises doubts about the city's ability to keep up.
"There are many obvious and common sense reasons why data centers do not belong in Riverside," Falcone said in an email. "From demand on already limited water and electricity resources, to noise pollution, to being a land suck, the vision I have for Riverside is one that is not compatible with how data centers exist and operate."
Riverside Public Utilities Manager David Garcia confirmed in an email that Riverside Public Utilities does not have a policy specific to data centers.
“We evaluate any proposed project to ensure we as a city have available capacity to serve the proposed use and its anticipated demand,” Garcia wrote.
City spokesperson Phil Pitchford told the Gazette in an email that the iVETS/StemWorx proposal did not advance far enough in the process to determine exactly what was being proposed or what its energy demand would have been.
The case for the data center
In an email to the Gazette, Committee Chair Steven Robillard pushed back on characterizations of the project as a traditional data center.
"The first phase is an applied technology lab focused on workforce training and emerging technologies, operating in existing commercial space and using the building's existing electrical infrastructure," he said, adding that he supports moving the first phase forward.
Robillard said separating the training phase from the longer-term data center concept was intentional, giving the city time to "better understand and address concerns associated with larger-scale data centers."
He said he generally favors "identifying and mitigating specific impacts rather than defaulting to outright bans."
Robillard, who chaired the June meeting, also said that Riverside's citywide electric capacity is set to double by 2029 and said other companies have already expressed interest in placing similar small-scale data centers in the city.
When presenting the project at the June 18 Economic Development Committee, Stanly described the proposed data center itself as a community-oriented facility rather than the larger data centers driving opposition elsewhere across the country.
"We're not talking about a 500 megawatt project that's going to require changing the grid," he said. "This is a community data center of and by and for the community, the benefit of the community to ensure that the community has access to the AI at consistent rates."
Phase one, according to Stanly, would draw no more electricity than a typical office space and would require no new infrastructure. The lab would offer applied technology training with priority recruitment and placement for veterans and underserved residents.
Stanly added that phase two of the project was planned to scale gradually based on local demand rather than launch at full capacity.
He also stressed that the memorandum of understanding under consideration was non-binding, telling committee members, "You haven't committed any funds. You haven't agreed to anything."
Across the Inland Empire, more cities are cementing their stance on data centers.
Coachella, Desert Hot Springs and Indio have enacted temporary moratoriums on data centers, while Perris will reportedly consider a ban next month.
