In Monterey Park, California, 88% of voters just cast ballots to permanently ban all data centers from their city — the first time any American municipality has used a direct ballot vote to prohibit data centers entirely. That's just the beginning of today's story.
🏘️ **COMMUNITY** — Monterey Park, CA voters approved Measure NDC by 10,321–1,362 (88.34%), permanently banning all data centers citywide through a direct ballot initiative. The measure was triggered by plans to convert a 218,400 sq ft commercial site at 1977 Saturn Ave into an AI data center. The ban amends the city's General Plan and can only be reversed by a future vote — making it the first voter-enacted data center prohibition in US history.
⚖️ **LEGAL** — The New York State Legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act on June 4, 2026 — the first-in-the-nation statewide data center moratorium. The Senate voted 44–16, the Assembly 102–39. The bill freezes Department of Environmental Conservation permits for one year for any data center drawing 20+ megawatts. Governor Hochul said June 12: "we've got some time." She has until year-end to sign or let it expire by pocket veto.
⚡ **POWER** — Portland General Electric filed a landmark rate structure implementing Oregon's POWER Act: a 29% rate increase for data center customers, with residential bills dropping 1.3% and small business bills dropping 3.7%. Before the law, data centers paid ~8 cents/kWh vs. homeowners' 20 cents. Oregon's Public Utility Commission delayed final approval to July 7 — but Oregon is the first state to implement this large-load rate separation model.
🏗️ **NEW BUILD** — Oracle and OpenAI's Project Jupiter in Doña Ana County, New Mexico is a 1,400-acre, 2.5 GW data center campus with up to $165 billion in total investment potential. The project faces two lawsuits from the NM Environmental Law Center and a furious community — residents arrived at a June 9 meeting expecting a town hall, and found an Oracle job fair instead. Signs read: "Let Santa Teresa breathe." New Mexico is under a Supreme Court order to cut groundwater use by 5.9 billion gallons per year.
💰 **INVESTMENT** — On June 15, 2026, Google announced a $1.5 billion expansion of its Jackson County, Alabama data center campus — built on the former site of TVA's Widows Creek coal plant. Google has operated the campus since 2019 and employs 10,000+ people across Alabama. The investment signals that hyperscalers are doubling down on existing infrastructure, not just breaking ground on new sites.
