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Data center project · Imperial County, California

Imperial Valley Data Center (Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing)

Stalled · A proposed single-story AI data center of nearly 1 million square feet on industrial land next to homes south of Imperial, the largest proposed in California, now tied up in court and under a county moratorium. Also known as: Hyperscale AI Data Center Project, Aten Road AI campus.

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Status
Stalled · as of Oct. 6, 2026
Location
Aten Road and Clark Road, outside the city of Imperial (2304 Clark Road per Baxtel) · Imperial County
Status note
A court overturned the county's lot-merger approval and ordered environmental review; the county reinstated a data center moratorium on Oct. 6, 2026.
Power
330 MW
330 MW per project documents and court records; the developer has also spoken of larger figures.
Floor area
950,000 sq ft
Land
75 acres
Investment
Not stated in a record; the developer cites about $72.5 million in one-time sales tax and $28.7 million a year in taxes
Developer and team
Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, LLC (Sebastian Rucci)
End user
Not confirmed; the developer has named Google as a likely tenant, and Google told inewsource it is not involved
Utility
Imperial Irrigation District (power and water)
Water
Sought 880 acre-feet a year (about 260 million gallons) of Colorado River water from IID, which denied the request on May 1, 2026; an earlier recycled-water plan with Imperial and El Centro fell through.
Evidence
News reports; primary records not yet obtained
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.

Updates, newest first

  1. Oct. 6, 2026 Supervisors voted 5-0 to reinstate a temporary moratorium on data centers on county land. (KPBS, Oct. 8, 2026)
  2. Sept. 2026 Judge Jeffrey Jones barred enforcement of the county moratorium, finding no showing of an immediate threat to public health or safety. (KPBS, Oct. 8, 2026; KPBS, Aug. 28, 2026)
  3. Sept. 2026 Judge L. Brooks Anderholt issued a tentative ruling on Aug. 31 that the county should not have approved the lot merger without CEQA review; the court later set the approval aside and ordered environmental review. (KPBS, Sept. 1, 2026; KPBS, Oct. 8, 2026)
  4. June 2026 The county adopted an emergency moratorium on data centers and later extended it; the developer challenged it in court. (CalMatters, June 23, 2026; KPBS, Aug. 4, 2026)
  5. May 1, 2026 The Imperial Irrigation District denied the company's request for about 880 acre-feet a year of water; the company sued IID on June 5. (Western-Water.com, Aug. 4, 2026)
  6. April 7, 2026 Supervisors approved the lot merger (Resolution 2026-057), with one supervisor voting no. (Western-Water.com, Aug. 4, 2026; KPBS, Oct. 8, 2026)
  7. Jan. 10, 2026 Baxtel reported project documents showing a 330 MW building, an 862 MWh battery system and 100 natural gas backup generators on about 74 acres. (Baxtel, Jan. 10, 2026)
  8. Dec. 18, 2025 The county Planning Commission did not approve the lot merger the project needs; the developer appealed to the supervisors. (inewsource, April 5, 2026; KPBS, Aug. 28, 2026)
  9. Dec. 4, 2025 The City of Imperial sued the county and the developer, arguing the project needs full CEQA review instead of a by-right approval. (Western-Water.com, Aug. 4, 2026; inewsource, April 5, 2026)
  10. Nov. 26, 2025 The City of Imperial pulled out of the recycled-water arrangement the project had relied on; El Centro followed about a week later. (Western-Water.com, Aug. 4, 2026)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Site acreage is reported as 74 acres (Baxtel) and 75 acres (inewsource); the developer also bought 160 adjacent acres of farmland for its water rights.
  • The developer has filed defamation suits against KPBS, a resident and an environmental group, and a federal civil rights suit against the City of Imperial (inewsource); outcomes not checked.
  • The KPBS October report says other data center applications are pending in the county's Mesquite Lake Specific Plan area; they are not named and are not listed here.

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