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Independent reporting on the campaign and the Pittsburg data center.
Pittsburg high school junior Sadie Cisneros delivered an impassioned speech at a city council meeting opposing the planned AI data center on the former municipal golf course, citing environmental and health concerns. Her videos of the protest went viral, drawing millions of views.
Opponents of the approved Pittsburg data center gained national backing as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenged tech billionaires and lawmakers to live next to one of the facilities. Residents say they were misled about the former golf course project and are pressing the city for a moratorium.
Residents of Pittsburg, California, say they were misled about a new development coming to their city. What they thought was intended to be a business and technology park has been revealed to be a massive data center. John Ramos reports.
Dozens of residents protested against an approved data center in Pittsburg and urged city leaders to enact a moratorium on future phases of such controversial facilities.
Dozens of locals who say they just learned about the project demanded city leaders halt development over water and power concerns.
Despite the stacks of pizza provided by the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, frustrations boiled over by the end of the hour-plus meeting as the audience had not been given a chance to ask questions directly of the AVAIO team.
Stop Pittsburg Data Center says the city broke a June 16 written promise to bring the data center back to a regular City Council meeting with public participation. Instead, the city scheduled a staff-run Zoom webinar on July 30 with emailed questions and no Council action.
Pittsburg city staff are hosting a virtual community engagement workshop about data center development, including the approved AVAIO Perseus Data Center at the former Delta View Golf Course. Residents are encouraged to submit questions ahead of time to [email protected].
Following a June council meeting where hundreds of residents packed City Hall to oppose a 2024-approved data center, Pittsburg will hold a July 30 Zoom workshop on data center policies and projects. The Stop Pittsburg Data Center coalition criticized the move as a webinar substitute for the promised Council agenda item.
Amid growing concerns over water use, energy demand, noise, and neighborhood impacts, Pittsburg officials scheduled a virtual community workshop for July 30 to explain the city's data center development process. Residents organized Stop Pittsburg Data Center meetings after the city announced plans to transform the former Delta View Golf Course into the Pittsburg Technology Park.
A citywide prohibition on new data centers is now on the table in Brentwood, where councilmembers Faye Maloney and Jovita Mendoza want the City Council to debate an ordinance banning establishment, construction, expansion, or operation of new data center facilities. Officials cited concerns about water use, noise, land use, and whether data centers deliver enough local jobs.
Brentwood has become the latest California city to consider a citywide ban on new data centers, as councilmembers seek an ordinance prohibiting establishment, construction, expansion, or operation of new facilities. The debate is spreading across Northern California, with Oakley already under a moratorium, Pittsburg facing organized opposition, and Calistoga residents rejecting a fairgrounds data center proposal.
Communities across the Bay Area, including Gilroy, Oakley, and Pittsburg, are pushing back on new data centers as tech companies pour hundreds of billions into building thousands of new facilities nationwide. Residents worry the facilities will consume scarce water and electricity and pollute the environment to power AI investors.
More than 300 Pittsburg residents showed up to a June 15 City Council meeting to oppose a data center approved in 2024, with over 100 public comments from teachers, parents, and community leaders. Speakers criticized the three-story facility planned for the former Delta View Golf Course near a middle school and demanded a moratorium and citizens' oversight committee.
Communities in Gilroy and Pittsburg are pushing back against mega data center projects already approved in their towns, with residents expressing frustration about learning of the decisions years after approval. An energy expert says concerns about water, power, noise, and emissions near residential areas are understandable given the scale of these facilities.
More than 300 Pittsburg residents packed a June 15 City Council meeting to oppose a data center approved in 2024 on the former Delta View Golf Course, while Gilroy residents voiced similar concerns about an Amazon data center under construction. Energy expert Kyri Baker said data centers consume enormous energy and can bring noise pollution and increased emissions to nearby communities.
More than 300 Pittsburg residents attended Monday's City Council meeting to oppose a data center development approved in 2024. More than 100 public comments were made by teachers, community leaders, and parents concerned about the project.
Pittsburg plans to convert part of the closed Delta View Golf Course into a 300,000-square-foot data center complex on 76 acres along the Contra Costa Canal. Residents and environmental advocates are pushing back over electricity demand, water use, emissions, and a CEQA lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Pittsburg is moving forward with a 300,000-square-foot data center on the former Delta View Golf Course despite heated public opposition at a council meeting. Residents raised concerns about energy consumption, noise, water usage, and traffic, while city officials say environmental impacts can be mitigated.
Following a June 15 council meeting where residents shared concerns about data centers, the city announced a workshop on data center development will be placed on an upcoming council agenda. The city encouraged residents to stay engaged and sign up for notifications about city projects.
More than 300 Pittsburg residents showed up to Monday's City Council meeting to oppose a data center development approved in 2024. More than 100 public comments were made by Pittsburg Unified School District teachers, community leaders, and parents.
Hundreds packed a Pittsburg City Council meeting with more than 100 public comments against a 300,000-square-foot data center on the old Delta View Golf Course site. Residents criticized the city over transparency, environmental concerns, and impacts to the community.
Hundreds packed city hall to oppose a data center approved in 2024 on the former Delta View Golf Course, voicing concerns about environmental impacts, resource constraints, and lack of transparency. The city said it plans a workshop on data center development for additional public engagement.
An editorial argues Pittsburg city leadership has been dismissive and defensive as public opposition to an approved data center has grown into a full-scale backlash. It calls for transparency, direct answers to resident questions, and consideration of a moratorium on future data center proposals.
Bay Area data center developers are expanding beyond Santa Clara into San Jose and Pittsburg, drawn by power availability and lower utility costs. Avaio Digital Partners plans a 340,000-square-foot data center in Pittsburg as part of the region's shifting data center landscape.
A feature on Pittsburg's struggle to reinvent its economy after the closure of its steel mill and Dow Chemical's ramp-down. City leaders see a planned data center at the former Delta View Golf Course as a first step toward attracting tech and advanced manufacturing jobs, despite resident and environmental criticism.
A Restore the Delta white paper finds AI-driven data center expansion in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta poses serious risks to water supplies, energy systems, and ecosystems, with Pittsburg among cities already hosting or targeted for development. The report calls for stronger oversight and community protections as California lacks AI-specific standards for resource use and emissions.
As data-center development accelerates to meet AI power and storage demand, golf courses in at least a half-dozen states are being eyed as potential sites. The article highlights Pennsylvania sales and notes the defunct Delta View Golf Course in Pittsburg is approved for a technology park and data center.
AVAIO Digital announced the California Energy Commission completed final approval for Project Perseus, a 76-acre data center campus at Pittsburg Technology Park delivering 99MW of capacity in 2027. The campus will use low-cost power from Pittsburg Power Company and 100% recycled water cooling from Delta Diablo.
AVAIO Digital Partners gained entitlements on the Perseus Data Center, a 76-acre, 340,000-square-foot facility on the former Delta View Golf Course in Pittsburg — the city's first data center. Avaio was drawn to Pittsburg's municipal utility, Pittsburg Power Company, for cheaper power rates than PG&E.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against Pittsburg after the city approved Avaio Digital's Project Pegasus data center, arguing the environmental review failed to adequately address impacts on species, water, emissions, and community safety. The project would include a 99MW data center, backup diesel generators, and a PG&E substation on roughly 100 acres.
The Pittsburg City Council unanimously approved the Pittsburg Technology Park Specific Plan for AVAIO's 76-acre Perseus campus, a 92 MW data center expected to begin construction in 2025 with energization in 2027. The project represents an over $800 million investment and emphasizes sustainability through zero-carbon grid power and 100% recycled water cooling.
Pittsburg's City Council approved selling 101.7 acres of the defunct Delta View Golf Course to Pittsburg Land Holdings, an AVAIO Digital Partners subsidiary, for $16.7 million to build a technology park and data center. The city secured a state exemption from Surplus Land Act housing requirements but must dispose of the land by Dec. 31, 2022.
In unanimous support, the Pittsburg City Council directed staff to pursue economic and employment opportunities on the 175-acre Delta View property rather than reopen the golf course. Council members cited the cost of subsidies, deferred maintenance of at least $1 million, and the site's potential as a one-time chance for economic development.
Delta View Golf Course in Pittsburg has become the latest East Bay course to close, taking regulars by surprise despite ongoing city negotiations over the property. City officials cited declining golf popularity and significant maintenance expenses, while saying they had not given up hope the course could reopen.
Delta View Golf Course was slated to close as the city-owned Pittsburg course explored its future after the operator cited legal and economic factors. Members mourned the loss of one of the Bay Area's last undulating, challenging layouts, while the city said it was working to keep the course alive if possible.