Despite assurances it’d come with a “highly efficient hybrid cooling system,” a data center proposed in Inyokern has raised concerns it would strain the region’s water supplies while imposing unacceptable levels of noise, heat and light pollution on the surrounding area.
The RB Inyokern Data Center’s potential impacts on neighbors in eastern Kern came up repeatedly in public comments during Wednesday’s Ridgecrest City Council meeting as residents pressed elected representatives to oppose the project now under review by state and county officials.
Their comments focused on a proposal by Trona-based R&L Capital Inc. to develop a 30-foot tall, 238,000-square-foot building that would help support artificial intelligence operations. According to the company, the development would provide 30 to 60 permanent jobs and generate more than $6 million per year in property tax revenue.
It would be located on roughly 50 acres of land just south of the intersection of Highways 395 and 178 in unincorporated Kern. R&L’s website says construction of the center would begin as soon as next year and cost more than $250 million.
The data center is one of at least two such proposals pending in Kern County — another would be built in Elk Hills in western Kern on property owned by oil producer California Resources Corp. — at a time when similar installations face opposition around the country for the impact they can have on neighboring communities.
R&L’s website says the project would use no more than 50 acre-feet of water per year to keep its whirring data halls cool using a “dry cooling” method the company insists would only rely on evaporative cooling “during peak temperatures.” The cooling system isn’t explained in the website or even mentioned in the main application filed with the California Energy Commission.
But opponents who have sent dozens of letters to the commission say a facility of its size can consume about 500 acre-feet per year, or close to 8% of the local groundwater basin’s entire sustainable annual yield.
A 2021 study published in Nature found that a 1-megawatt data center typically uses 18.6 acre-feet per year. At 99 megawatts, the proposed RB Inyokern data center could use up to 1,822 acre-feet per year, based on the study’s formula.
Robbie Barker, the CEO of R&L who also owns and runs Trona-based Valleywide Construction Services Inc., did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
His project is undergoing two government reviews, one of them by Kern County as it considers whether to issue a conditional use permit for the data center’s construction. It was unclear what level of review is being done, and what paperwork has been filed locally, because Kern County Planning Director Craig Murphy did not return requests for comment Friday.
Phillip Peters, a Kern County supervisor who represents the area and serves as chairman of the local groundwater authority, declined to comment on the pros or cons of the RB Inyokern proposal. He said nothing has officially been submitted to either board so far.
The Energy Commission is conducting the state review, based on the developer’s plan for a 99-megawatt, diesel-powered backup generation facility. A spokesman noted Friday that, while the commission does not make decisions on data center permits, its authority over thermal power plants measuring 50 megawatts or larger means the agency will conduct a full review under the California Environmental Quality Act looking at issues including water, land use and air quality.
R&L’s website contains statements that appear to anticipate public concerns about data centers generally and its project in particular.
It says research suggests property values near such developments tend to rise 3% to 5% because of the projects, and that at the property line, the noise they make tends not to exceed 55 decibels, which it likened to the volume of a quiet conversation.
The website notes the site’s backup generators would only run during rare grid outages and brief monthly testing. It says the center would build dedicated utility infrastructure together with Southern California Edison, including a new power substation.
“The data center strengthens the local grid by funding infrastructure that benefits all ratepayers,” it says.
But project opponents who spoke during Wednesday’s meeting, and were cheered by dozens of audience members in the packed council chambers, voiced strong doubts that the data center would fit well in Inyokern.
A speaker named Sarah, or Sara, whose last name was inaudible, called the proposal “fundamentally misaligned” with an area already struggling with an overdrafted groundwater system. She raised concerns, as well, with its potential to produce air and noise pollution, heat and traffic.
Among at least nine other people who spoke against the project was a woman whose name was inaudible. She acknowledged the importance of AI but said a full CEQA review was in order.
“AI is here to stay. It’s our partner. It’s become our personal assistant. And, yes, we need data centers,” she said. “But not in Inyokern, and not in Ridgecrest.”
As part of its Water Supply Assessment, RB Inyokern lists a groundwater well it intends to build on the site, though it doesn’t give specifications of depth or production capabilities for that well.
The Inyokern Community Services District states the well water would be used for emergencies and fire suppression but RB Inyokern’s Water Supply Assessment states the well would simply provide another source for the data center.
The RB Inyokern Water Supply Assessment doesn’t include the Indian Wells Valley groundwater plan, which was approved by the Department of Water Resources.
Instead, it includes the outdated 2022 version of the Kern subbasin groundwater plan, which was rejected by the state and has nothing to do with the Indian Wells Valley aquifer.