Stockton residents are questioning whether new local data centers would bring enough economic benefits to outweigh potential effects on the environment and surrounding communities.
In the city’s first of three planned community listening sessions, held Thursday at August Knodt Elementary School, public input was sought on potential data center development in Stockton.
Data centers house computer servers and other equipment used to store, process and transmit digital information. They support services such as online banking, cloud storage, internet applications and artificial intelligence, and can require significant amounts of electricity and, depending on their cooling systems, water. The facilities have become a divisive issue across the country, with public backlash against the power-hungry centers.
The Stockton listening sessions come less than two months after the City Council voted to remove data centers from the city’s three-year economic development plan amid opposition from residents. San Joaquin County has also halted new data center approvals amid water and power concerns.
Stockton already has a data center at the Port of Stockton, and city officials say they have not received any applications or permit requests for additional facilities.
During the meeting, hosted by City Manager Johnny Ford, Community Development Director Stephanie Ocasio discussed zoning and environmental review requirements for potential projects, while Economic Development Director Ricardo Noguera outlined potential economic benefits. Mayor Christina Fugazi and Deputy City Manager Will Crew also attended.
Some residents questioned how the facilities could affect the city’s air quality, electricity demand, water supply and nearby neighborhoods. Others raised concerns about the relatively small number of permanent jobs that data centers typically create and whether they would deliver meaningful returns for the community.
Several speakers also urged the city to establish stronger development standards and environmental protections before considering any proposals.
Ford opened the meeting by emphasizing the importance of balancing economic development opportunities with residents’ quality of life.
“Progress isn’t just about what we build,” he said. “It’s about making Stockton a better place for the people who call it home.”
He instructed the roughly 20 attendees to fill out comment cards and said each speaker would have three minutes to speak.
While Ford said the city wants to hear residents’ perspectives before moving forward with any policy discussions, Ocasio told attendees that city officials would not respond to comments or questions during the event. She outlined the planning and environmental review process, saying that any potential data center projects would be directed to industrial areas where they are allowed under the city’s general plan, rather than to residential neighborhoods or areas near sensitive uses.
She also discussed recent state legislation regulating data centers, including California Senate Bill 887, which the city said would prohibit qualifying projects from receiving certain categorical or ministerial exemptions under the California Environmental Quality Act beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
Noguera said he had spent several months researching data center development and found that the facilities were typically located in industrial areas. He pointed to Texas and Virginia as examples of states where data centers had been built too close to residential neighborhoods, saying developers “probably set them up in the wrong locations.”
“Here in Stockton, we have one of the largest industrial areas in Northern California,” Noguera said, adding that data centers can “serve as catalysts to attract technology companies.”
He said the facilities could also generate additional property tax revenue to support city services, such as public safety — a key attraction for many cities across the country.
“I’m not going to go into concerns about power and water, but from an economic development standpoint, it’s a real boon to cities and counties to support city services,” Noguera said.
Environmental and economic concerns
During public comment, residents questioned whether data centers would provide enough economic benefits to offset potential environmental and infrastructure costs.
Yolanda Amen, who serves as the District 6 representative on the Stockton Planning Commission, said the city should consider the growing connection between data centers and AI. She said the increasing demand for computing power would require more servers, electricity, cooling and data center capacity.
She questioned whether Stockton could make development decisions that would commit community resources for decades while the technology and its demands continue to change.
“What will this cost our community? Who will be responsible for the long-term consequences of data centers? And what protection will be in place before anything is approved?” Amen asked.
“We should not be chasing the future so quickly that we forget to protect the people who are living in it now,” she said.
Lynndee Riley, president and CEO of the San Joaquin Safety Council, said she previously worked as a systems engineer for IBM. She wanted to know how many permanent jobs any facilities would create, saying smaller data centers could employ as few as five people, while medium-sized facilities could employ up to 100.
“They should be considered just another business, just like any other business, except for the lack of quality that they can bring into our community,” Riley said.
She urged the city to establish strict development standards before allowing additional data centers to be built, including requirements for noise-reduction measures, alternative cooling technologies and renewable energy generation.
Riley suggested requiring developers to generate enough electricity to not only meet their facilities’ needs but potentially supply additional power to the local grid.
She also questioned whether the city would regulate how data centers could be used, including whether they could support military applications or other AI operations.
“I do believe there’s a way that we can make them happen and make them be something that’s positive for the community, but we need to set up very high standards for what we will accept,” Riley said.
Alycia Raya, a youth program coordinator for Little Manila Rising and a third-generation Stockton resident, questioned whether large technology projects would benefit longtime residents. Instead, she called on city officials to prioritize investments in education, local communities and the environment.
She criticized the city’s past land-use and zoning decisions, arguing that industrial development has disproportionately affected southeast Stockton neighborhoods, where residents have faced greater exposure to pollution and health concerns, including asthma and cancer.
Raya said industrial facilities have been concentrated in communities with large populations of people of color and questioned whether allowing additional data centers in industrially zoned areas would continue that pattern.
“Who will be pushing out? Who will suffer from that?” she asked.
Julie Dunning, who was appointed to the city’s Climate Action Plan Advisory Committee, questioned whether Stockton was pursuing data centers primarily because of their potential to generate revenue amid financial challenges.
Rather than chasing data center dollars, she said officials should focus on existing problems, including improving neighborhood conditions and public safety.
“The return on investment, the jobs that you’d bring here, it’s not good for the people,” Dunning said. “It may be good for the city coffers because we’re spending more than we have, but data centers aren’t the answer.”
Industry experts sought
One community member questioned whether city officials have expertise in AI and whether residents would have an opportunity to hear from industry experts at the next listening session.
Fugazi acknowledged that city officials are not experts on the subject. She said that discussions about any potential data centers are ongoing and that officials want residents to have an opportunity to weigh in before approving any proposals.
“We don’t want to leave you out,” the mayor said. “We don’t want to do backroom deals. We don’t want to just go ahead and approve something without allowing the public an opportunity to help us as we are on this journey.”
Several residents said they have technical questions and want to hear directly from data center representatives. They urged the city to have industry experts on hand to answer future questions. They also want input from residents in other communities where data centers have been built.
“Our goal is to have industry experts at future sessions to be able to provide more information,” Ocasio said. She said city officials would use the feedback to help shape the remaining listening sessions.
The city will hold its second listening session from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at Oak Park Senior Center, 730 E. Fulton St. A third session is scheduled for the same time on Dec. 2 at the Ursula Meyer Library and Community Center, 1461 Morada Lane. Both sessions will be streamed live on the city’s Facebook page.