Two more East Bay cities hit the brakes on data centers Tuesday night. The Hayward City Council approved a 45-day moratorium on new data centers on Oct. 20, and the Richmond City Council voted 7-0 the same night to extend its existing pause until Sept. 15, 2028, according to NBC Bay Area and The Richmond Monitor's meeting digest.

Why it matters: AI is driving demand for bigger, power-hungry computing buildings, and a developer has already approached Hayward about two new 99-megawatt facilities. The votes buy both cities time to decide whether, and under what rules, more can be built.

What Hayward approved

Hayward's pause covers the consideration and approval of new data centers. The city says the time-out is meant to study the cumulative effect of current and future projects on energy and water supplies, air quality, industrial noise, the city's emergency response capacity and its economic development goals. Under state law, the 45-day urgency ordinance can later be extended for up to two years.

Hayward already has four existing and approved data centers clustered near PG&E's Eastern Substation on the city's industrial west side, according to the city:

  • SF09, a 24-megawatt facility on a 10.9-acre site on Corporate Avenue
  • SF11, a 35-megawatt facility on a 4.24-acre site, also on Corporate Avenue
  • Hayward Exchange @92, a 49-megawatt facility on Clawiter Road near Breakwater Court
  • Stack Data Center (SVY03A), a 76.6-megawatt facility under construction on Eden Landing Road

The two proposed 99-megawatt buildings would sit within half a mile of those sites, near Arden Road and Corporate Avenue. NBC Bay Area reported that staff will use the pause to assess whether approving them would be wise. We previewed the vote here.

Richmond goes much longer

Richmond adopted a 45-day urgency moratorium on Sept. 15 by a four-fifths vote. It was set to expire Oct. 30. State law allows one extension of up to 22 months and 15 days, and the council took the full amount, pushing the end date to Sept. 15, 2028, The Richmond Monitor reported. Official minutes were not yet posted Wednesday morning.

In a report required before the extension, city staff said they have started a community engagement plan, interviewed PG&E and East Bay Municipal Utility District, reviewed rules in Hayward, Santa Clara and Loudoun County, Virginia, and issued a request for proposals for a consultant. Staff wrote that the study will look at whether and under what regulations data centers may be allowed, "including a possible full prohibition."

During public comment, Richmond resident Toronto Abbott told the council, "We're on the cusp of a really terrifying era," NBC Bay Area reported, adding that he did not believe the wealth from data centers would benefit residents. Our earlier story on the Richmond hearing is here.

Who's next

Pittsburg's council on Monday directed staff to draft its own 45-day moratorium, and NBC Bay Area reports the council will consider it next Monday. Oakland and San Francisco have already adopted 45-day pauses of their own.