Those plans have sparked fierce opposition among residents of the San Gabriel Valley, where a diverse coalition<\/a> of community groups across an array of predominantly Latino and Asian<\/a> suburbs has mobilized to try to stop a series of proposed data centers over concerns they will worsen the area\u2019s air quality and noise pollution and hike residents\u2019 utility bills.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be bearing the cost of these kinds of projects,\u201d said Love, who joined the fight after learning about plans for the Puente Hills Mall when attending a neighborhood meeting in Rowland Heights, an unincorporated community just across the street.<\/p>\n As with many residents in the coalition, the issue impelled Love to get involved in activism for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what race you are, what background, what religion,\u201d Love said. \u201cEverybody is standing for the same thing, and it\u2019s community, it\u2019s people, it\u2019s environment.\u201d<\/p>\n The San Gabriel Valley has become a hotbed of opposition to the building of data centers for artificial intelligence, part of a nationwide backlash uniting communities across demographic groups and political parties \u2014 a Gallup poll earlier this year<\/a> found seven in 10 Americans oppose construction of data centers in their area. Community groups have notched victories across several cities in this region of nearly 2 million people, including in Monterey Park, which in June became the first city in the nation<\/a> to pass a voter-approved ban on data centers.<\/p>\n Sam Brown-V\u00e1zquez, an organizer with No Data Centers San Gabriel Valley and Avocado Heights Vaquer@s, speaks at the May 2 rally against a proposed data center in the City of Industry.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Semantha Raquel Norris<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Capital & Main<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n But community efforts to block data centers have come up against a formidable obstacle in the City of Industry<\/a>, a sprawl of industrial warehouses and commercial manufacturing centers that snakes across 12 miles of the San Gabriel Valley. Though it borders a dozen communities from El Monte to Diamond Bar, with just over 200 residents<\/a>, it\u2019s a municipal oddity that has faced legal challenges<\/a> since its incorporation in 1957.<\/p>\n Public records obtained by community groups and reviewed by Capital & Main show City of Industry officials have been discussing data center proposals with developers in recent years \u2014 the largest of which is the plan for the Puente Hills Mall site. Activists say there are few means by which residents of surrounding communities can protect themselves from the impacts because the city has few actual constituents and its leaders are unaccountable to nearby residents who could be harmed.<\/p>\n \u201cResidents and surrounding communities are really disadvantaged by the fact that this unaccountable city exists,\u201d said Samuel Brown-V\u00e1zquez, an organizer with No Data Centers San Gabriel Valley<\/a> and Avocado Heights Vaquer@s<\/a>.<\/p>\n A City of Industry spokesperson reached by Capital & Main said the city has not approved plans for a data center but declined further comment for this story.<\/p>\n The Blueprint<\/p>\n Data centers, large industrial facilities that house computer servers to store, process and transmit digital information used by artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital services, require large electrical systems<\/a>, enormous amounts of water for cooling equipment<\/a> and other resource-intensive infrastructure.<\/p>\n As technology becomes more reliant on these services to feed AI-powered search engines and chatbots, data centers are rapidly expanding nationwide<\/a>, but so is community resistance<\/a>, as residents raise concerns about the environmental and health<\/a> impacts of the resource-hungry facilities and their effects on electricity and water rates.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that a data center was going to be built within a five-minute walk of my house,\u201d said Steven Kung, co-founder of No Data Center Monterey Park<\/a> and candidate<\/a> for Monterey Park City Council.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t sit well with me because data centers usually get built in rural communities or deserts, and there was this cognitive dissonance in a data center coming to such a housing-dense area,\u201d said Kung. \u201cIt felt like environmental racism.\u201d<\/p>\n Steven Kung speaks at the May 2 rally in Rowland Heights.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Semantha Raquel Norris<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Capital & Main<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Monterey Park, a predominantly Asian and Latino<\/a> community of about 57,000 people just a few miles west of the City of Industry, has been leading the local data center resistance.<\/p>\n After fierce community backlash, the Australian-owned investment firm StratCap<\/a> pulled its plans for a 247,000-square-foot data center in the city.<\/p>\n Grassroots canvassing, social media campaigns and protests led to a temporary moratorium and<\/a> eventually a city ordinance, which<\/a> paved the way for a ballot measure. In June, 86% of residents approved Measure NDC<\/a>, becoming the first in the nation<\/a> to pass a ban on data centers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels very empowering in a time when people feel powerless,\u201d Kung said.<\/p>\n No Data Centers San Gabriel Valley, a coalition of residents, activists and at least six community organizations from across the San Gabriel Valley, has used similar tactics in El Monte<\/a>, Montebello<\/a> and Baldwin Park<\/a>, where city councils adopted temporary moratoriums on data centers, and Alhambra<\/a>, where a citywide ban is on the November ballot.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a 12-mile-long obstacle to community groups\u2019 aspirations to keep data centers out of the San Gabriel Valley.<\/p>\n New Tactics<\/p>\n Data center opponents in the region are now turning their attention to the City of Industry, where they know that going up against a city with so much power yet so few residents or oversight will require new strategies.<\/p>\n \u201cThose of us in unincorporated L.A. County are going to get stuck with the impacts \u2014 the public health impacts, the adverse environmental impacts \u2014 and there is no remedy and no recourse or enforcement mechanism at this juncture,\u201d said Brown-V\u00e1zquez, the organizer with No Data Centers San Gabriel Valley.<\/p>\n The City of Industry is an industrial powerhouse with 92% of its land zoned<\/a> for industrial use and 8% for commercial use.<\/p>\n A coalition of residents, community organizations and advocates attend a City of Industry City Council meeting on March 26.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Semantha Raquel Norris<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Capital & Main<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n But with a population of 210, it is one of the least populous cities in California according to a 2024 estimate<\/a> by the U.S. Census Bureau. Residents of El Encanto Healthcare and Habilitation Center, a skilled nursing facility that was once a private mental institution<\/a>, even comprise some of the current voting population.<\/p>\n Activists say the City Council operates with little accountability from the small residential population. A City Council election hasn\u2019t been held since a 2020 recall<\/a>, which was the first election in nearly 20 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brown-V\u00e1zquez is a resident of Avocado Heights, a designated SB 535 Disadvantaged Community<\/a> and unincorporated area encircled by the City of Industry. His sister has cancer, which he believes could stem from their proximity to underregulated industrial activity.<\/p>\n Multiple environmental concerns have arisen over the City of Industry, including groundwater contamination<\/a> from a former Benchmark Technology facility and lead contamination<\/a> from the Ecobat battery recycling plant.<\/p>\n \u201cCity of Industry is really an anomaly in terms of municipalities within the state of California in that it\u2019s almost completely exempt from a lot of the safeguards that should theoretically exist,\u201d said Brown-V\u00e1zquez.<\/p>\n In February, the City of Industry City Council voted<\/a> to change zoning laws to allow Battery Energy Storage Systems<\/a> (BESS) and data centers<\/a> virtually everywhere in the city.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city is shaped like a tapeworm, basically snaking throughout the San Gabriel Valley along the freeway,\u201d said Kung.<\/p>\n \u201cBy rezoning<\/a> and allowing for data centers and battery energy storage systems, these dangerous entities \u2026 could touch almost every city in the SGV,\u201d Kung added.<\/p>\n BESS systems<\/a> can provide a reliable power supply to the grid, but potential risks include lithium battery fires<\/a> and health effects from harmful gases released in fires. Data centers operate around the clock and often rely on battery storage systems for a consistent energy supply.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear this is 100% a necessary part of the infrastructure to build out and increase the load capacity to accommodate data centers,\u201d said Brown-V\u00e1zquez.<\/p>\n While the City of Industry said it has not approved plans for a data center, public records show city officials discussed potential building sites with developers, including at the Puente Hills Mall<\/a> site, the site of the former Alfred S. Madrid Middle School<\/a> and the Industry Business Center<\/a> building 10, before changing zoning laws.<\/p>\n Public records<\/a> reviewed by Capital & Main include a December email discussing substation power for the Industry Business Center building 10. In it, City of Industry City Manager Joshua Nelson wrote, \u201cI think we should just bank\/count\/gamble with it being a data center and we will find a user that will use the power.\u201d<\/p>\n A representative for Raeden Inc.<\/a>, the company that proposed the data center, told Capital & Main that \u201cRaeden is not currently pursuing a project in the City of Industry. We were previously exploring a site in the area, but are not actively moving forward at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown-V\u00e1zquez said the City of Industry has not been transparent with the public about its data center discussions and has tried to suppress information by not providing interpreters or filming public meetings and by making it difficult to submit public comment.<\/p>\n Residents and advocates line up outside of the City of Industry council chambers to give public comment on March 26.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Semantha Raquel Norris<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Capital & Main<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n In March, dozens of residents from neighboring communities across the San Gabriel Valley lined up to give public comments at a City Council meeting. They were told to fill out a comment card by 9 a.m., but public comments were pushed to the end of the meeting after the city held an hourslong closed session.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re doing that specifically to try to dissuade people from speaking,\u201d said Brown-Vasquez, while outside the council chambers. \u201cThis is how they operate. It\u2019s part and parcel of their operations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe might not live in the City of Industry, but we are stakeholders, and we deserve the opportunity to be able to weigh in and to submit comments,\u201d added Brown-V\u00e1zquez, who has filed multiple Brown Act violations against the city.<\/p>\n Industrial Enclaves<\/p>\n The City of Industry is one of \u201cthe Big 4<\/a>\u201d industrial cities in L.A. County, alongside Commerce, Vernon and Santa Fe Springs, which together comprise 24% of the county\u2019s industrial space and market themselves as attractive places for investment due to low taxes and fees, permissive zoning and other business-friendly policies.<\/p>\n \u201cNowhere else in Southern California \u2014 or the entire West Coast \u2014 will you find this concentration of industrial power, logistics excellence and business opportunity,\u201d the consortium promoting business investments states<\/a>.<\/p>\n The City of Industry has roughly 3,000 businesses<\/a> employing over 68,000 people and generating over $31 billion annually in total sales in a city with only a few hundred residents.<\/p>\n With few city residents reaping those economic benefits, Brown-V\u00e1zquez said he wants to know where all the money is going.<\/p>\n The City of Industry had much higher per-capita revenue, over $300,000 per resident, in fiscal year 2024 compared to under $2,000 per resident in neighboring cities like El Monte and La Puente, according to data<\/a> from the California State Controller\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n The Marici BESS<\/a> project, a 400-megawatt battery storage facility that will connect to Southern California Edison\u2019s electric transmission system, was approved<\/a> by the city in February. This project is anticipated to generate $6 million in community benefit fees and around $3 million in project sales and use tax revenue, according to a community benefit agreement<\/a> reached between the city and the developer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to be the beneficiaries of investment,\u201d said Brown-V\u00e1zquez, adding that the revenue generated from industry should be invested back into the neighboring communities.<\/p>\n Brown-V\u00e1zquez gives public comment at a City of Industry City Council meeting on March 26.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Semantha Raquel Norris<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Capital & Main<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n The City of Industry has been the center of several corruption scandals where city business investments were used to siphon money, including by former Mayor Dave Perez<\/a> and former City Manager Paul Philips<\/a>. Despite multiple efforts by the state at regulating activity<\/a> there, the city remains an industrial powerhouse.<\/p>\n New legislation<\/a> co-sponsored by the Big 4 could further perpetuate the City of Industry\u2019s power in the San Gabriel Valley, said Brown-V\u00e1zquez.<\/p>\n Introduced in February by state Sen. Bob Archuleta of Norwalk, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, Senate Bill 1274<\/a> establishes \u201cindustrial cities\u201d as an official definition in state code for programs, policies and funding.<\/p>\n Archuleta said in an interview that industrial cities are burdened with heavy traffic from commerce and the large influx of a daily commuter workforce. Street infrastructure projects in these cities are underfunded by the state, he said, and clearly defining industrial cities in state code can give them a pathway to advocate for more transportation funding.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is our way of saying thank you for making California the economic hub that it is,\u201d said Archuleta. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to turn the tide, and bring in labor, and bring in new development and new opportunities to maintain our fourth-largest economy status, this is how we have to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown-V\u00e1zquez believes this blanket designation could lead to future exemptions for industrial cities, which he said already operate with few regulations or concern for the environmental well-being of neighboring communities.<\/p>\n Applying Pressure<\/p>\n No Data Centers San Gabriel Valley is working to apply pressure on the City of Industry through regional joint power associations by asking school districts to pass resolutions and by calling on county and state officials.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need some pressure put on them to understand that their decisions impact a lot of communities,\u201d Love of Rowland Heights said about the City of Industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t L.A. County or the state of California come down on some of these [industrial] cities? Why are they just allowed to be reckless with the surrounding community bearing the brunt of that?\u201d Love asked.<\/p>\n San Gabriel Valley residents protest data centers in the City of Industry at the May 2 rally in Rowland Heights.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Semantha Raquel Norris<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Capital & Main<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Several new state laws are imposing new requirements on water use, electricity costs, land use and local oversight for data centers. Despite previously vetoing<\/a> such legislation, Newsom recently signed comprehensive laws<\/a> aimed at regulating the data center industry.<\/p>\n L.A. County Supervisor and Board Chair Hilda Solis, who represents the San Gabriel Valley, heard the calls of her constituents and introduced a motion<\/a> in April to address the health and environmental impacts of data centers.<\/p>\n At the Board of Supervisors meeting<\/a>, county officials cited numerous health concerns related to data centers, noted strains on the electric grid infrastructure and consumer utility rates, raised concerns about the strain on water consumption, and said fire and zoning codes have not been updated with clear regulations for the new type of data centers being proposed.<\/p>\n Despite these alarms, Solis received pushback from colleagues, such as Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who called data centers a \u201c21st century reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Supervisors approved a watered-down version of Solis\u2019 motion, directing county departments to conduct a comprehensive study of the potential public health, environmental and community impacts of data centers, without implementing the proposed moratorium on new builds in unincorporated areas.<\/p>\n After further analysis, the county Department of Regional Planning provided recommendations<\/a> for managing data centers and, in September, issued a temporary moratorium<\/a> on hyperscale data centers in unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n The ban could become permanent under a recent motion<\/a> from Solis. County supervisors were scheduled to vote on the measure at a meeting Tuesday<\/a> but Solis pulled the item from the agenda.<\/p>\n In a statement, Solis said that she postponed her motion to allow more time to address \u201cissues raised by our labor partners and ensure we have a strong policy that reflects the needs of our residents and workers.\u201d<\/p>\n Solis said her staff had heard from other board offices about \u201cconcerns raised by the unions and the trades about protecting good-paying jobs and ensuring workers are not left behind as this industry grows\u201d and said that those concerns \u201cdeserve careful consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n In any case, such prohibitions will not protect residents from projects in the City of Industry and other incorporated cities.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the San Gabriel Valley\u2019s coalition of data center opponents is continuing to educate residents about the dangers of encroaching data centers with teach-ins, art builds and demonstrations.<\/p>\n In May, dozens of residents from diverse backgrounds and communities rallied at Peter F. Schabarum Regional Park across the street from the Puente Hills Mall to protest the proposed data center. Another rally is set for Oct. 18<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sick of being sold out by our politicians. These spaces should be for the people that are surrounding it, for the communities, not to be lining their pockets for their own business and profit,\u201d said Alicia Contreras, a resident of La Puente who was attending her first demonstration with the coalition.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m also looking for community,\u201d she added as one of her reasons for protesting. \u201cI just see so many people that don\u2019t look like me, and it\u2019s surprising. I didn\u2019t know that we were all here.\u201d<\/p>\n Photos by Semantha Raquel Norris for Capital & Main.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Capital & Main.<\/p>\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792003449_302_.jpeg\")
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