Fresno Moves to Ban Data Centers as AI Projects Spread Across the Central Valley

FRESNO, Calif. — October 10, 2026 — The artificial intelligence boom has arrived in California's Central Valley, and the region is split on how to respond. Fresno is drafting rules to keep data centers out of the city for at least a decade, while projects in nearby Kings and Kern counties continue to move ahead.

Fresno votes to draft a 10-year ban

On September 3, the Fresno City Council voted 7-0 to direct city staff to draft a development code change that would define data centers and prohibit them citywide, The Business Journal reported. The ban would last 10 years and then stay in effect unless a future council changes it, according to KMPH Fox26.

Council members expanded the original proposal so it would also cover land annexed into Fresno in the future, and so the council would be notified right away if the city ever receives a data center application. Councilmember Nick Richardson, who authored the measure, said it would not stop businesses, hospitals or city departments from using AI or running servers for their own operations.

Mayor Jerry Dyer co-sponsored the effort. He told GV Wire that his office had spent months working on a code definition that would block data centers, and argued that the facilities don't create enough jobs to justify the land they use. Richardson said the measure is meant to end speculation that projects in the city's Southeast Development Area were really intended for data centers.

Fresno's planning director said the code change could be ready within a few months, though the full process could take up to a year. City staff also noted that Fresno cannot regulate development on unincorporated county land.

Projects keep moving elsewhere in the valley

Outside Fresno city limits, several AI data center proposals are advancing, according to GV Wire and SJV Water:

• Naval Air Station Lemoore: An AI data center is planned at the base in Kings County, subject to federal approvals.
• Elk Hills, near Taft: California Resources Corporation, the state's largest oil company, has partnered with Beacon Data Center on a proposed 600,000-square-foot campus in its oilfield.
• Inyokern, eastern Kern County: A proposed 99-megawatt data center would begin with a 60MW first phase, with construction possibly starting in April 2027 and operations targeted for November 2028, according to DatacenterDynamics. Labor and economic development groups have endorsed it, while the city of Ridgecrest, China Lake Naval Base and the Sierra Sands Unified School District have filed opposition letters.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has also said it may lease some of its right-of-way through the valley to data centers to raise revenue.

PG&E sees an opportunity

Not everyone sees data centers as a threat. Speaking to the Rotary Club of Fresno, PG&E executive Carla Peterman argued the region is well positioned to handle large new power loads, and that new demand could help lower residential rates by spreading grid costs, The Business Journal reported. She said about two-thirds of the data center applications in a recent PG&E study came from the Central Valley, and that developers are expected to pay for their own infrastructure upfront.

A study cited in the same report found that data centers placed near Fresno County solar farms could use clean energy that is currently wasted because transmission lines are congested.

Water remains the biggest worry

For many residents, the key question is water. In a region that has long fought over every acre-foot, residents and activists have pushed for more transparency about how much water data centers would use for cooling. Protests against data centers have taken place in Hanford and at the Tulare County Fair Board, and in Imperial County, supervisors reversed their approval of a large AI data center after public outcry, according to SJV Water.

What to watch

• Fresno's final code amendment and council vote
• Federal decisions on the Lemoore project
• Kern County and state reviews of the Elk Hills and Inyokern proposals
• State utility regulators' rules on who pays for data center grid upgrades

This article is based on public reporting as of October 10, 2026.

Sources

• KMPH Fox26: Fresno moves forward with citywide data center ban
• The Business Journal: Fresno data center ban safeguards
• GV Wire: Dyer comes out against data centers in Fresno
• GV Wire / SJV Water: Will AI data centers soak up the last drop of valley water?
• The Business Journal: PG&E on Central Valley data centers
• DatacenterDynamics: 99MW data center proposed in Kern County