"In April, developers of the massive Imperial Data Center cleared a major hurdle after Imperial County Supervisors approved a plan to combine several tracts of land for the nearly one-million-square-foot facility in rural Southern California.
It would be the largest data center in the state; the parent company, Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, LLC describes it as a hyperscale facility, “designed exclusively for advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning operations.”
Last week, that progress came to a halt when the county board walked back its decision, declaring a 45-day moratorium on data centers and forming a public commission to advise the county on zoning policy for the facilities. Their reversal came after months of backlash, and a more than hour-long public hearing in which residents voiced sharp criticism of the sweeping project and its swift approval."
