Race to Ban AI Data Centers in the East Bay Begins

Vol. VI, No. 1,353

—Hayward officials plan to discuss a potential ban on future AI data centers next month, a sharp turn for a city that has already approved two massive facilities with a combined electrical capacity of more than 125 megawatts.

The proposed ordinance, backed by Mayor Mark Salinas, Councilmembers George Syrop and Angela Andrews, would amend Hayward’s zoning code to prohibit the development of new data centers in the city.

The proposal follows blowback from residents over the approval of STACK Infrastructure’s 76.6-megawatt data center near Eden Landing Road and Highway 92.

The project never went before the City Council for approval. Instead, its was approved by the Hayward Planning Commission in May 2025.

During a council meeting in January, Syrop questioned whether appointed planning commissioners should have sole authority to approve projects of such magnitude.

There also appears to be some buyer’s remorse over the deal Hayward received. STACK pledged $1.5 million in community benefits as part of the project.

“The data center we’ve got now—they pulled a fast one on us,” Syrop said in January. “My advice is please do not come with an insulting community benefits agreement.”

The council referral would go beyond banning future projects. It also calls for establishing a process to monitor the impacts of data centers Hayward has already approved.

A second facility, Hayward Exchange @ 92, was approved in 2021. The 49-megawatt data center remains under construction and is partially operational.

Together, STACK and Hayward Exchange represent an estimated 125.6 megawatts of electrical capacity—roughly equivalent to the capacity needed to power 125,600 homes, a figure approaching Hayward’s entire population.

—Hayward’s experience with approving massive data centers has become something of a clarion call for neighboring Alameda County cities, where discussions are beginning over the future of potentially lucrative—but enormously energy- and water-intensive—facilities increasingly associated with the artificial intelligence boom.

In Fremont, concerns about AI data centers prompted Mayor Raj Salwan to reassure residents that the city has not yet received applications for such projects. Similar questions are emerging in Alameda, with its large expanses of land at Alameda Point, as well as Oakland, San Leandro and the Tri-Valley.

San Leandro Councilmember Xouhoa Bowen asked city staff in June to study a potential ban on new AI data center permits. Mayor Juan Gonzalez III, however, has expressed a willingness to consider allowing data centers in San Leandro.

With Hayward now considering closing the door on additional projects and other East Bay cities deciding whether to welcome or restrict them, AI data centers could become one of the hottest local issues of this fall’s election.

Share East Bay Insiders Newsletter

Give a gift subscription

• COUNTY NEWS: Amid Cyberattacks on Water Systems in Midwest, East Bay MUD discussed ‘Threat to Public Services or Facilities’ in Closed Session

• School Trustees Sound Alarm Over Alameda County Child Welfare Failures

• ELECTION 2026: Wahab Allies Turn Up the Heat in Final Weekend of CA14 Race

• CA14 Feud Continues to Foment an Alameda County Democratic Party Rift

• Willie Brown Endorsement Hernandez. Why and How Did that Happen?

• Here’s the Letters Associated With Alameda County’s 27 Ballot Measures, and 1 Regional Ballot Measure

• CAMPAIGN FINANCE: Federal Form 6 48-Hour Contribution Filings and State Form 497 Large Campaign Contributions Filed on Aug. 14-16