The data center fight in Patterson, California
As of September 27, 2026, Patterson, California has a data center moratorium in force (action taken Jul 16, 2026; documented end date 2027-07-15).
Status is derived, not stored — a pause with a documented end date flips to Expired on its own — and the source is right next to the claim.
Status today
Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 889 (initial 45-day). Extended unanimously Aug 18 via Ordinance No. 890 for 10 months 15 days. Data centers were previously permitted by right in industrial zones. Key concern is water — city faces state requirements to reduce groundwater pumping.
SourceNews
read 2026-09-11
An expiry date is the earliest a pause could have ended — extensions are common, so confirm with the clerk before citing it.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in California.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- California briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Nearby in California
- San Joaquin County (35 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
- Morgan Hill (37 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-10-10
- Oakley (48 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-04-14
- Calaveras County (56 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-10-09
- Tulare County (132 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-10-02
- Mendocino County (181 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-10-16
- Humboldt County (270 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
- Eureka (282 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-10-17
All 23 tracked actions in California are on the state page.
As of August 2026 · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Part of the U.S. data center moratorium tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0.