Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Supervisors Vote to Study Data Center Impacts — What It Means for Pasadena and Altadena

From left, 4th District Supervisor Janice Hahn, 1st District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, 3rd District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger and 2nd District Supervisor Holly Mitchell. [David Franco / Board of Supervisors]

The motion, authored by Board Chair and First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, directs multiple county departments to evaluate the potential risks posed by data centers and to develop best practices for regulating the facilities in unincorporated areas of the county. Because Altadena is an unincorporated community governed directly by the Board of Supervisors, the motion’s regulatory scope applies there in a way it does not in incorporated cities like Pasadena, which control their own zoning and land use.

“I have heard significant concerns from residents across the San Gabriel Valley as cities consider advancing hyperscale data center projects,” Solis said in a statement issued by her office. “While the County does not have direct jurisdiction over developments within city boundaries, we have deep expertise across departments that can help establish best practices in unincorporated areas.”

According to the county press release, the motion fell short of a full moratorium on data center construction. Solis stated that “absent sufficient support for a full moratorium, the Board unanimously approved a study that will provide recommendations for next steps,” adding that the vote “does not limit the County from taking any future actions found to be within our purview once the report is released.”

A Local Legislator’s Parallel Push

The motion also directs the County’s Office of Legislative Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations to advocate in support of Senate Bill 978, authored by State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez. Pérez, a Democrat whose designation is Pasadena, represents Senate District 25 — a district that includes both Pasadena and Altadena, along with other San Gabriel Valley communities such as Alhambra, Arcadia, Monterey Park, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena and San Marino.

Pérez introduced SB 978, which she has titled the Data Center Community Accountability Act, in February. According to a press release from Pérez’s office, the bill would ban the use of diesel backup generators at data centers, create a separate electricity rate class for facilities operating above 75 megawatts, require the use of local skilled workers paid prevailing wages, and mandate that data centers pay upfront for transmission infrastructure upgrades.

“I have heard urgent calls from my constituents, and others throughout the state, to regulate data centers and their impacts on energy, water and pollution,” Pérez said in the February press release.

A previous round of state legislation aimed at data center regulation in 2025 was significantly weakened before passage, resulting in a law that only required regulators to produce a report on the issue by 2027.

Pasadena Already in Data Center Developers’ Crosshairs

Although the county motion applies to unincorporated areas and not to the city of Pasadena itself, the issue of data center expansion is already present within city limits. In December 2025, Amazon Web Services paid approximately $78.8 million for a 168,000-square-foot industrial property at 2964 Bradley Street in East Pasadena, along the 210 freeway corridor. The building, which previously housed the internet service provider EarthLink, sits in what commercial real estate analysts have described as a technology and life science corridor.

Amazon has not formally disclosed its plans for the site. When the issue came up during a recent Pasadena City Council meeting, Pasadena Water and Power General Manager David Reyes told attendees that no application had been submitted and no plans had been reviewed, according to a report in Data Center Dynamics. In March 2026, Data Center Dynamics reported that Amazon plans to use the property as a quantum research center rather than a traditional data center.

Amazon already operates the AWS Center for Quantum Computing, a 21,000-square-foot research facility on the Caltech campus that opened in 2021.

Commercial real estate analysts have pointed to Pasadena’s municipal utility as a factor attracting technology companies. Pasadena Water and Power provides roughly 1,000 gigawatt hours of electricity annually and has been planning capacity increases.

Nearby Communities Push Back

The county vote takes place amid a wave of community opposition to data center development across the San Gabriel Valley. In nearby Monterey Park — also within Pérez’s senate district — residents mounted a sustained campaign against a proposed 247,000-square-foot data center planned for a site on Saturn Street. The Monterey Park City Council imposed a moratorium on data center development in January 2026 and subsequently voted to place a measure on a special June 2026 ballot that would permanently ban data centers citywide. The developer, HMC StratCap, has since withdrawn its application.

Residents in unincorporated areas of the San Gabriel Valley, including Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights, have also raised concerns about data center impacts, according to public comments submitted to the Board of Supervisors ahead of the vote.

The motion cited a 2026 report by Community and Environmental Defense Services, a national organization that studies development impacts, which found that pollutants emitted from data centers may pose health risks for people living within 0.6 miles of a facility. Data centers typically rely on diesel backup generators, which emit nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter linked to respiratory illness.

There are already more than 70 data centers operating in Los Angeles County, according to the motion, with that number expected to grow.

What the Study Will Cover

The county press release states that the motion directs the departments of Public Health, Regional Planning, Public Works, Fire, and the Chief Sustainability Office to evaluate potential risks and conduct community outreach. The effort is intended to develop recommendations that could also serve as a framework for incorporated cities dealing with data center proposals.

The motion calls for “culturally competent community outreach” that engages residents, labor organizations, community groups and subject matter experts. It also directs the county to examine potential community benefits related to energy rates, water usage, public health and environmental impacts, while prioritizing local workers for data center jobs.

The Data Center Coalition, an industry group, raised concerns about the motion. Khara Boender, the coalition’s director of state policy, told LAist that what concerned her most was “the inclusion of a moratorium,” calling it a signal to data center developers about whether they are welcome. Boender also said that data centers bring economic benefits, citing a PricewaterhouseCoopers report finding that one data center job creates six jobs in the broader economy.

What It Means Locally

For Altadena residents, the motion’s focus on unincorporated communities places the issue squarely within their regulatory environment. Any best practices or restrictions that emerge from the study would apply directly to Altadena and other unincorporated county communities.

For Pasadena, which as an incorporated city controls its own planning decisions, the motion could serve as a reference point. The city already hosts existing data center infrastructure along Bradley Street, and Amazon’s recent $78.8 million property purchase has drawn attention to the area’s attractiveness for technology companies seeking proximity to research institutions and reliable utility service.

Senator Pérez’s SB 978 would apply statewide, covering both incorporated and unincorporated jurisdictions. The bill is currently working its way through the state legislature.