Imperial Valley leaders are suddenly treating data centers less like an economic jackpot and more like a regional stress test. Imperial County has paused projects on county land, while cities from Calexico to Calipatria weigh moratoriums or outright bans. The fight now turns on how much power, water and land the valley should commit to facilities whose long-term local payoff remains a major point of debate.
Calipatria has advanced a potential permanent ban, Calexico has moved toward developing one, and Imperial has extended its development pause through May 2027, according to KPBS. Brawley, meanwhile, has discussed a moratorium but has not made a final decision. The patchwork response shows the valley is not speaking with one voice, even as public opposition has spread across city lines.
Countywide Pause Meets City-by-City Rules
At the county level, supervisors have adopted an interim ordinance pausing approval of data center facilities in unincorporated areas, according to the Imperial County Board agenda. The county is also building a data center advisory committee to study land use and zoning, with applications for committee members announced by Imperial County. Any eventual city ban would still leave county-controlled land outside municipal boundaries, making a single valleywide rule difficult to assemble.
The biggest test remains a proposed complex near the City of Imperial. The city’s project information page describes a roughly 950,000-square-foot facility with 330 megawatts of generation, emergency backup systems and large-scale energy storage, while also noting the site’s proximity to residential neighborhoods. That scale helps explain why a land-use fight that began in one corner of the valley has become a regional argument over infrastructure and public oversight.
The Utility Could Become The Valley’s Gatekeeper
The Imperial Irrigation District is pursuing a separate brake of its own: a proposed Large Load Tariff for major industrial customers, including potential data centers. Under the proposal, customers requesting at least 20 megawatts of demand would have to cover the infrastructure and system upgrades needed to serve them, with financial protections intended to prevent existing ratepayers from absorbing project costs, according to the Imperial Irrigation District.
That could make IID the practical gatekeeper for projects that survive local zoning fights. The proposed framework would also give the utility more leverage over reliability, long-term service commitments and the timing of power reductions during extreme demand, ensuring that a city’s approval would not automatically translate into a plug-in-ready data center.
The debate is unfolding against a difficult economic backdrop. A Southern California Association of Governments report says Imperial County is facing rising economic stress tied to agricultural changes and the closure of the Spreckels Sugar processing facility, while pointing to geothermal power and lithium extraction as industries with potential for future growth. That gives supporters a straightforward argument: the valley needs new investment, even if the proposed projects are not everyone’s preferred version of it.
Developers And Unions Are Pushing Back
Developers and labor representatives have warned that sweeping bans could send construction and investment to another region, while at least one Calipatria councilmember cautioned that a complete prohibition could trigger expensive litigation. The developer behind the large Imperial project has already challenged the county’s moratorium in court, KPBS reported.
For now, the valley is trying to slow a wave of development before local governments commit to its full costs. The next decisions will come through city hearings, the county’s advisory process and an expected IID vote, with each one testing whether Imperial Valley officials can write rules that protect residents without closing the door on every form of large-scale industry.
