San Diego’s four Democratic congressional representatives said Thursday they will introduce legislation to stop the proposed 400-megawatt commercial data center on the site of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) from moving forward without local government consent.
The announcement, from San Diego Reps. Sara Jacobs, Scott Peters, Juan Vargas and Mike Levin, comes after backlash from the community and local elected officials over the past week.
“This is a bait and switch. We were promised housing, amenities, and public parks, and instead, we could get the state’s largest data center,” Jacobs said in a press release. “San Diego has been very clear, from our neighbors to Mayor Gloria to the City Council, in opposing this plan.”
On Tuesday, the San Diego City Council unanimously approved a 45-day emergency pause on data centers, with the option to extend it for up to 20 months. However, because the 60-acre site near Old Town is federally owned, the city has no authority over how the land is used.
“Federal ownership does not mean San Diegans should be shut out of decisions which will impact us for generations to come,” said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn at the meeting.
The debate over the future of the mixed-use redevelopment area has continued for years, with speculation that the site could include affordable and military housing.
“San Diego’s housing crisis represents the biggest barrier to our economic growth and prosperity. For years, I’ve said the NAVWAR campus is one of our best opportunities to build housing at scale, with direct access to the highway and transit,” Peters said in the press release. “A data center here – that has not explained how it would benefit the community, build more housing, or lower energy bills – would be a major missed opportunity to do that.”
The data center, proposed by San Diego-based Manchester Financial Group, is one of several development options still under consideration, according to the company’s president and CEO, Ted Eldredge.
The legislation pledged by the San Diego delegation remains on hold until the House returns on Nov. 9 and could face a slow path through Congress even then. With limited time on the congressional calendar and other pressing issues — like federal budget talks — the bill may struggle to gain momentum or reach a vote before the end of the session.
But, the San Diego County representatives are united in their concerns over housing plans, water use, electricity costs and the power grid.
“San Diegans should not have to pay higher electricity costs and bear the environmental impacts of a data center pushed by the Trump Administration without their input,” Levin said in the press release. “The proposal to build a data center on San Diego’s NAVWAR site is especially concerning because local elected officials did not have a seat at the table when the project was chosen, even though their communities will be most directly impacted by the decision. This land is also a prime location for housing development, so choosing a data center instead would forgo a significant opportunity to expand housing.”
The attempt at allowing a data center to share space with the Navy , is part of a larger push by President Donald Trump for such centers on federal property.
Trump directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to identify sites on military installations suitable for data centers. Last year, he also signed an executive order to fast-track large-scale data center construction, by allowing many projects to bypass environmental reviews.
The NAVWAR proposal is raising larger questions about who gets a say in federal land use and how those decisions affect local residents.
“Communities deserve to know what is being built next door so they have the opportunity to make their voices heard,” Vargas said in the press release. “People were promised housing development, public parks, and more in this location. The community cannot be left in the dark while a data center is built instead. Residents and local government should have a say in what happens to the NAVWAR campus. Full stop.”
