Supervisor Walton to Introduce Moratorium on AI Data Centers in San Francisco

Supervisor Shamann Walton along with co-sponsors Supervisor Connie Chan, Jackie Fielder, and Chyanne Chen will introduce an urgent ordinance imposing a 45-day interim zoning moratorium on new Data Centers in San Francisco. The moratorium would pause City approvals while the Board of Supervisors and Planning Department study impacts and develop permanent codes around Data Centers. San Francisco’s current codes governing Data Centers were written in 2001, long before the current scale of AI technology.

Data Centers approved so far have been clustered in Bayview, a neighborhood already overburdened with air pollution and environmental justice concerns. These facilities are major consumers of water and energy, and federal projections show Data Center electricity use could triple by 2028. The 45 day pause gives the City time to create permanent protections in place, following the lead of Monterey Park, which moved from an interim moratorium to a permanent ban on Data Centers this past May.

Contact: Lindsey Lopez-Weaver, lindsey.lopez@sfgov.org