A small city just east of Los Angeles just did something no American city has done before: it told data centers to stay out, permanently.
Monterey Park voters approved Measure NDC on June 2 with 86.27% support, a margin so lopsided it barely qualifies as a contest. The final tally was 6,316 yes votes to 1,005 no votes. The measure bans all data center development within city limits unless future voters decide to reverse it.
What triggered the ban
The story starts with a proposal from Australian developer DigiCo Infrastructure REIT, which pitched a 247,000-square-foot data center facility in the city. Opponents argued the project would triple Monterey Park’s electricity consumption. In a city of roughly 60,000 people, that claim hit hard.
Public pushback was immediate and fierce. In January 2026, the city council enacted a temporary moratorium on data center development while it figured out next steps. By March, the council had unanimously voted to put a permanent ban on the ballot.
