San Diego passes 45-day moratorium on data centers amid fight over proposed 400-megawatt AI site

San Diego's City Council voted 9-0 on Tuesday to pause the permitting, approval and development of data centers in the city for 45 days, with the option to extend it. The vote followed outcry over a 400-megawatt data center that developer Manchester Financial Group has floated for the Navy's NAVWAR campus near Old Town, where dozens of residents, some in costume as Elmo and Lord Farquaad, spoke against it. Because NAVWAR is federal land, the moratorium doesn't cover that project directly. City staff will draft data center rules, which council members want to include setbacks from schools and parks, clean-energy requirements and protections so residents don't bear the costs.