Graded Moderate and tightening. 20 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 27 October 2026.
Interim Rule 30 (24 July 2025) makes transmission loads prepay facilities with no interim refunds; Silicon Valley Power closed to new data centers in 2023.
SB 886, AB 2383 and SB 1168 (signed 21 Sept 2026) order cost-causation tariffs by 1 Jan 2028 with 10-year minimums, collateral and exit fees.
SB 887 (21 September 2026) removes CEQA exemptions statewide; bans or pauses are in force in LA County, Monterey Park, Imperial County, San Francisco, Oakland, Gilroy and Richmond.
California has no data center sales tax exemption and no in-force action on one, so nothing to lose and nothing to gain.
AB 1577 requires annual energy, generator fuel and noise reports and AB 2619 water-use estimates at licensing (signed 21 Sept 2026); no limits yet.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
On 21 September 2026 Governor Newsom signed seven bills that end CEQA exemptions for data centers, require energy and water reporting, and order the Public Utilities Commission and utilities to adopt data center tariffs by 1 January 2028. No data center bill was vetoed in 2026. California has no data center sales tax exemption, and a 2025 bill to create a partial one (SB 58) died in committee. PG&E connects transmission-level loads under an interim Rule 30 that makes the customer pay up front, with refund and cost-allocation terms still undecided. Local governments are moving faster than the state: Food & Water Watch counts at least 26 local resolutions, moratoria or bans passed or proposed since June 2026. Monterey Park voters banned data centers, San Francisco and Oakland adopted 45-day moratoria on 6 October 2026, and Imperial County reinstated its pause on 6 October 2026 after a court struck down the first one in September.
The CPUC's final Rule 30 decision is pending after comments closed on 4 September 2026, and its SB 57 cost-shift assessment is due by 1 January 2027. The statutory data center tariffs are due by 1 January 2028, the same date the AB 2469 water supply assessments begin. The San Francisco pause runs 45 days from the mayor's 16 October 2026 signature and Oakland's from its 6 October adoption; both can be extended under Government Code 65858 and Oakland has said it will likely seek one. Richmond's 45-day pause ends around 30 October 2026 and Gilroy's around 29 October 2026 unless extended. San Jose's large energy project standards are due for council readings on 8 and 15 December 2026. Alhambra votes on a data center measure on 3 November 2026. Imperial County's advisory board reports in January 2027, and two supervisors want a ballot measure on a county ban. Los Angeles County postponed its vote on a permanent hyperscale ban. CAISO's Large Loads Initiative draft final proposal of 24 September 2026 is moving toward a tariff filing.
No statewide moratorium, but 7 local pauses are in force as of 27 October 2026, in Gilroy, Imperial County, Los Angeles County, Monterey Park, Oakland, Richmond and elsewhere. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. California is graded Moderate, which means incentives alongside new costs, limits or local pushback. Seven data center laws signed September 2026; local moratoria spreading. The outlook above says what is pending.
California sits in CAISO. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. California's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 27 October 2026.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) California scores grid connection 3, power rates 4, siting and land use 4, tax treatment 3, permits and water 3, a mean of 3.4. The most regulated line is siting and land use: SB 887 (21 September 2026) removes CEQA exemptions statewide; bans or pauses are in force in LA County, Monterey Park, Imperial County, San Francisco, Oakland, Gilroy and Richmond.
20 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
Supervisors voted 11-0 on 6 October 2026 for a 45-day urgency moratorium (Ordinance 215-26) on data center approvals while the city studies energy, water, air quality and land use effects. Mayor Lurie signed it on 16 October 2026, which made it effective. It can be extended under Government Code 65858 for up to 22 months and 15 days.
Source: hklaw.comThe city hosts 56 data centers and collects about $35 million a year in taxes from them. Its municipal utility stopped accepting new data center applications in 2023, and in October 2026 the city began a year-long interdepartmental review before updating local rules. A council item would have staff report within 30 days on power allocation, with a moratorium on new stand-alone data centers as an option.
Source: ktvu.comThe county adopted a 45-day urgency moratorium in June 2026 and on 14 July 2026 extended it to 365 days, with zoning recommendations from a new advisory board due by January 2027. A Superior Court judge struck that moratorium down in September 2026 on developer Sebastian Rucci's challenge, finding no showing of an immediate threat. On 6 October 2026 the Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a new interim moratorium citing water supply, local energy production and a court-ordered environmental review, and two supervisors are pressing for a ballot measure to ban data centers on county land.
Source: kpbs.orgThe city council voted 7-0 on 6 October 2026 for a 45-day urgency moratorium (Ordinance 13899) on all new data center development across the city, effective immediately; the certified ordinance was filed on 13 October 2026. The city will use the period to study policy options and development standards. Counting 45 days from adoption, it runs to about 20 November 2026, and the city has said it will likely pursue an extension.
Source: ktvu.comSan Jose is drafting a Large Energy Projects Uniform Development Standards council policy and related ordinances instead of a moratorium. A community meeting was held on 15 October 2026, Planning Commission review is set for 18 November 2026 and council readings for 8 and 15 December 2026, with an effective date 30 days after the second reading.
Source: hklaw.comSigned 21 September 2026. Removes CEQA categorical exemptions so every data center needs at least an initial study, even where zoning allows it by right. Streamlined court review is limited to projects that pay full interconnection costs, add no net fossil fuel use, provide four hours of zero-carbon storage at full peak demand, use recycled water and sign a community benefits agreement.
Source: mayerbrown.comSigned 21 September 2026. The CPUC must set tariffs by 1 January 2028 so data centers pay their infrastructure and generation costs, with 10-year minimum payments, upfront collateral and an early termination fee for loads that leave within 10 years or fail to ramp. AB 2383 sets the size threshold at no more than 25 MW and extends the generation tariff duty to community choice aggregators and electric service providers.
Source: mayerbrown.comSigned 21 September 2026. Data centers must disclose estimated energy use, on-site generation and sound levels to local agencies at permitting, and report each year to the Energy Commission on power usage effectiveness, generator fuel, cooling, clean energy procurement and noise.
Source: mayerbrown.comSigned 21 September 2026. AB 2619 requires a water-use estimate before a business license and actual use at renewal; it is close to AB 93, which was vetoed in 2025. From 1 January 2028 AB 2469 requires a water supply assessment and scarcity plan and makes the applicant pay the full cost of water system upgrades.
Source: mayerbrown.comThe county has a temporary ban on data center development in unincorporated areas, issued as planning department guidance in September 2026, while it works to codify a prohibition in the zoning code. In October 2026 the Board of Supervisors postponed its vote on a permanent ban on hyperscale data centers after heavy public feedback.
Source: mayerbrown.comIn City of Imperial and Sierra Club v. Imperial County, Judge L. Brooks Anderholt issued a tentative ruling on 31 August 2026 that the county abused its discretion by approving a lot merger for Sebastian Rucci's 950,000 square foot data center before completing CEQA review of the whole project. The county reported in October 2026 that the court overturned the approval and ordered an environmental review.
Source: kpbs.orgThe city council voted unanimously on 14 September 2026 for an interim urgency ordinance that bars accepting, processing or approving new data center applications for 45 days. It exempts the Amazon data center already under construction but applies to a possible second Amazon facility. State law allows extensions to a total of two years.
Source: nbcbayarea.comThe city council adopted a 45-day urgency moratorium on data centers on 15 September 2026 so officials can study impacts and consider permanent rules. It ends around 30 October 2026 unless extended.
Source: nbcbayarea.comCAISO posted a draft final proposal and draft tariff language for its Large Loads Initiative on 24 September 2026, with a stakeholder meeting on 19 October 2026. It responds to FERC's June 2026 show-cause order on transmission service for large loads.
Source: stoel.comAn administrative law judge ruling of 7 August 2026 asked parties how FERC's 18 June 2026 show-cause order on large-load transmission service affects Rule 30. Reply comments closed on 4 September 2026, after which the record was to be submitted for a final decision on refunds and cost allocation. No proposed decision had been issued as of 27 October 2026.
Source: docs.cpuc.ca.govVoters approved a citywide ban in the June 2026 election with about 86% in favor in early counts, described as the first data center ban passed by public vote in the US. Montebello, El Monte and Baldwin Park have temporary moratoria and Alhambra banned data centers in a zoning update.
Source: govtech.comIn approving PG&E's agreements with STACK (Resolution E-5420, 30 October 2025) and Microsoft (Resolution E-5439, 15 January 2026), each 90 MW in San Jose, the CPUC capped annual refunds of customer advances at 75% of actual net revenue and stretched the refund period from 10 to 15 years. The resolutions are non-precedential. PG&E's request for a 250 MW Google load in San Jose (Advice Letter 7785-E) was protested; the draft Resolution E-5455 approving it with a refund cap and cost cap was held from July through September 2026 and set for the 8 October 2026 vote.
Source: stoel.comSigned 11 October 2025. Began as a data center tariff bill and was narrowed to require the CPUC to assess whether data centers shift costs to other customers and to publish the result by 1 January 2027.
Source: mayerbrown.comThe governor vetoed AB 93 (water-use reporting) in October 2025. AB 222 (energy reporting to the Energy Commission) was held in Senate Appropriations, and SB 58 (a partial tax exemption for data center equipment tied to renewable investment) died in committee.
Source: mayerbrown.comApproved 24 July 2025. Lets PG&E connect transmission-level customers now if they pay the cost of their facilities up front and may prefund network upgrades. Refunds are denied during the interim period and left to the final decision.
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