Coachella Mayor Frank Figueroa speaks on data center future after discussions of moratorium

COACHELLA, Calif. (KESQ) - After five hours of public comment against a proposed data center in Wednesday's Coachella's City Council meeting, leaders are now discussing a possible moratorium.

It comes after months-long pushback from the community against the Coachella Valley Technology Campus, a 450 acre lot containing 6 data centers.

Late into the heated meeting, City Council directed staff to draft an ordinance for a moratorium or pause.

"So I am calling for a moratorium. This has taken way too long, a lot longer than and it had to be done. I've learned more about data centers in the last two months than I ever thought," Councilmember Denise Delgado said.

Now, it's raising questions on if the city's reversal is possible and what it could cost taxpayers if Stronghold pursues legal action.

News Channel 3 asked Coachella Mayor Frank Figueroa if the city is worried about a legal battle.

"I mean at this point, what is the dollar value on someone's life, right? Because if we put a price on someone's life, it's like if I put a price on my mom's life. There's residents that said we don't care about the amount of money we have to pay," Figueroa said.

It's created a messy path forward, as the city finds a way out of the municipal utility agreement they signed with Stronghold back in February. The deal would provide power to sell as a public utility, generated by the data center.

Without power, local leaders have warned there's no chance for future developments.

Figueroa says a joint power authority (JPA) formed with Imperial Irrigation District would support and provide that power.

The Coachella Electric Financing Authority would strengthen electric service in the east valley.

"With the JPA that we have with the IID, like Indio did, that was a prime example of what we can do and we have that opportunity. We need to make sure that we go out to the community and let them know, hey, there's going to be a surcharge. What your surcharge is going to equate to is infrastructure built so that we can get a hotel so that we can get other grocery stores," Figueroa said.

The City Council will vote on the emergency data center ban ordinance on June 3rd at 6 p.m.