00:00A proposed 400-megawatt data center on a Navy site has San Diego's elected officials
00:06crying foul. Across the country, the fight over data centers is moving from city halls into
00:13courtrooms, utility commissions, and the ballot box. San Diego is in open revolt over a proposed
00:22400-megawatt data center on a Navy site in Old Town. Developer Manchester Financial Group,
00:30working with Edgemore Infrastructure in Real Estate, has been in exclusive talks with the Navy
00:36since 2023 to build on the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command property. It would be the
00:44largest data center in California, with energy use equal to roughly 320,000 homes. At a city hall
00:52rally, council member Sean Ello Rivera called the plan a monstrosity, and Mayor Todd Gloria signed
00:59an executive order pausing data center construction citywide. But there is a catch. Ello Rivera says
01:07a city moratorium would not stop a project on federal land. Because the Navy does not follow
01:14city zoning, he is now drafting rules requiring renewable power and protection for ratepayers.
01:22That opposition is now making its way into courtrooms in Londies County, Alabama. Two residents sued the
01:30county commission, claiming it violated the state Open Meetings Act when it approved Project Red Clay,
01:37a proposed 2,200-acre hyperscale campus that would be the largest in the state. The project would draw
01:441,500 megawatts from Alabama power and received a 1.1.5 billion dollar tax abatement at an October 13th
01:53meeting.
01:54The suit also says the commission skipped required procedures for the abatement, and asks a judge to stop
02:01further action. At a special meeting, at least 125 residents watched the commission approve its minutes
02:09by 832 to vote. After a motion to table failed, the circuit judge has recused himself, and a replacement
02:18has not been named. Another ruling shows how much power local governments hold. The Ohio Supreme Court
02:26unanimously ruled that the village of Lordstown did not have to review a data center site plan while a
02:33moratorium was in place. Developer Bristolville 25 developer bought industrial land in February 2025 and
02:43requested a site plan review that October. Two weeks later, the village council moved to ban data centers.
02:50The developer argued its request should be judged under the old rules, but the court found it had no
02:57vested right to enforcement of any particular zoning ordinance. After the case reached the court,
03:04the council repealed the ban and enacted a temporary moratorium, extended in June by 180 days.
03:12More than 100 data center moratoriums now exist across Ohio. And the reason this fight keeps gaining
03:20momentum comes down to one thing. Who pays for the power? In Florida, Public Service Commission staff
03:28recommended the commission deny Duke Energy Florida's large load tariff as filed. With permission to refile,
03:36the tariff would apply to loads of 50 megawatts or more, with a 20-year minimum term and a $150
03:43,000 study fee.
03:45Staff said a rate freeze from 2024 addresses only half of what state law requires. And that limiting the
03:54tariff to firm service customers has no basis in the statute. Duke reported 13 study requests above 50
04:01megawatts, the smallest at 160. The docket has drawn more than 4,400 public comments. And commissioners
04:11vote in Tallahassee on November 3rd. Some companies are trying to solve the power problem without waiting
04:18on new plants. Google and Voltus announced a plan to build one gigawatt of virtual power plant capacity
04:25in PJM, the strained grid region covering parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Over the next three to
04:33four years, under Voltus's Bring Your Own Capacity Model, Google funds the program, and businesses and
04:41households are paid directly or through bill credits to cut power when the grid is stressed. The deal
04:48expands a 100-megawatt agreement signed in June and extends the commitment through 2040. Last week, PJM
04:57activated its emergency load response program twice. And Voltus delivered about 105% of its committed
05:05reduction. Voltus recently closed a $225 million series D round to pursue 20 gigawatts by 2030.
05:15The pressure on the grid is only half the story. Water tells the other half. In Montana, where parts of
05:23the state are in the sixth year of drought, the town of Broadview, population about 150, is facing a
05:31proposed Quantica infrastructure campus called Big Sky. The developer plans a well about 4,500 feet deep
05:39into the Madison aquifer. More than 1,000 feet below the aquifer used for drinking water. Plans call for
05:47150,000 gallons a day during construction and 20,000 gallons a day in operation. Residents gathered
05:56signatures for a ballot measure requiring voter approval, but it missed the ballot after the
06:02signature deadline changed. Montana Conservation Voters wants a moratorium until protections exist.
06:09And the state environmental agency's public comment period closes October 29.
06:16State and local officials are taking notice. Volusia County, Florida, approved an ordinance banning
06:24data centers with an anticipated peak load of at least 50 megawatts in unincorporated areas.
06:32Cities keep their own authority over zoning. The county stopped accepting new large-scale applications
06:38on August 17, and the council advanced the ordinance unanimously on 1st reading October 6.
06:46David Santiago said there is a lot of uncertainty and cited water and electricity concerns.
06:52While Councilman Jake Johansson argued projects should be judged individually because of property,
06:59tax revenue and jobs. Meanwhile, voters in about 18 Ohio communities will weigh in on data center
07:07measures on November 3, including Grove City's issue 28, which would require a public referendum before
07:15large developments are approved. Yet despite that regulatory wave, the money is still moving.
07:23Alcoa agreed to sell part of its former Masayna East Aluminum smelter site in upstate New York to
07:29an unnamed data center developer for up to $315 million. The buyer pays between $50 and $65 million at
07:39closing, expected within six months, with another $60 to $250 million tied to approved capacity expansions and
07:48commissioning milestones over seven years. Alcoa expects most of the additional proceeds within the
07:56first five years. The smelter closed in 2015, and the site sits near hydroelectric power on the St.
08:04Lawrence River. The deal shows how idle industrial land with existing power access has become some of the
08:11most valuable real estate for AI infrastructure.
