San Francisco passes a 45-day moratorium on data centres while the city studies their impact

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on data centres on Tuesday 6 October, the San Francisco Standard and SFist reported. It pauses city approvals of the facilities while the Planning Department studies their effects on energy, water, air quality, land use and nearby communities, and develops long-term controls. The board's own legislation file would not open from here, so the details are as the outlets reported them.

Supervisor Shamann Walton of District 10 wrote the measure, and three other supervisors, among them Connie Chan and Jackie Fielder, co-sponsored it, Mission Local and SFist reported. If the city finds significant environmental impacts, the pause can be extended for up to 22 months while permanent controls are considered, both outlets reported. “Until we know what that is, it needs to stop,” Walton said when he announced the plan, according to Mission Local.

SFist reported that the moratorium pauses the planned expansion of the NOVVA data centre on Paul Avenue in Bayview, and that permits have been filed for a facility in Dogpatch. Oakland's council passed its own moratorium on new data centres the same night, SFist reported.

The outlets disagree on when the pause takes effect, so no start date is given here. The votes put two of the Bay Area's biggest cities among the local governments slowing the data-centre build-out that AI is driving.

• Reported San Francisco's supervisors unanimously approved a 45-day data-centre moratorium on 6 October, the San Francisco Standard reported. San Francisco Standard
• Reported The pause can be extended for up to 22 months if significant environmental impacts are found, Mission Local reported. Mission Local
• Reported The moratorium pauses the planned NOVVA expansion in Bayview, and Oakland passed its own moratorium the same night, SFist reported. SFist