Council Urges Measured Approach on Data Centers
The rapid rise of data centers powering our innovation economic and everyday lives has given equally rapid rise to fears and fear mongering about the impacts these important facilities pose. The Bay Area Council has been working to address these concerns, dispel myths about data centers and highlight the significant community and economic benefits they can provide. We recently took our message to Hayward to advocate against a proposed data center moratorium, one of many being considered across the region.
In a letter to the Hayward City Council, Bay Area Council CEO Libby Schaaf urged the city to “take a thoughtful pause to conduct a comprehensive review of data center proposals and the revenue impacts of these facilities, while avoiding a formal temporary ban or moratorium.” Data centers are the engine behind many of the technologies and industries we’ve all come to rely on, from video streaming services, autonomous vehicles and email to advanced manufacturing, public safety and scientific research focused on curing disease.
Such a pause, Schaaf wrote, would give the city “necessary time to study key parameters, such as economic development, energy efficiency, and local workforce opportunities, without creating the regulatory uncertainty and negative signals that accompany an outright ban.”
Schaaf also noted that the city already has in place strong and transparent local policies and rules for reviewing and approving large-scale commercial facilities, including data centers, and that a moratorium risks undermining the city’s economic competitiveness.
“The construction, development, and long-term operation of data centers attract major infrastructure investment, generate construction and technical jobs, and strengthen local tax bases,” Schaaf wrote. “Rather than enacting a temporary ban that risks turning away sustainable development and high-wage job opportunities, a temporary review pause offers a solution-based approach.”
This is a message we will continue to deliver across the region. To engage in our technology and innovation work and participate on our Data Center Task Force, please contact Senior Vice President Peter Leroe-Munoz.
