If the proposed Inyokern Data Center, or any potential negative impacts it might have, matter to you, here are THREE things you should do NOW!
1. SEND AN EMAIL! A draft email is below, along with addresses to send it to. You can just send that, but it’s better to put it in your own words. Ensure that you point out that there will be “significant adverse environmental impacts” and so it should have a full environmental review.
2. SUBMIT A COMMENT! Submit the text of your email as a comment directly to the California Energy Commission as well, where the application for an environmental review exemption is currently in the process of being submitted for review. This must be done on their website at bit.ly/taogdatacenter.
3. TELL A FRIEND! Do you know someone else who cares about this issue? Share this post or the information with them, and ask them to send an email and leave a comment as well!
BONUS POINTS! Scroll to the very bottom of this post and submit comments to our state and federal representatives. Be sure to point out issues they will care about, including that this is near federal land for our US representatives.
Subject:
Comments on RB Inyokern Data Center — CEC Docket 26-SPPE-01 — Request Full Environmental Impact Review, especially with respect to water, (air, noise, light, flora, fauna, waste, power, roads, infrastructure, etc.)
Email Text:
I am a resident of Ridgecrest/the Indian Wells Valley, writing to express concern about the proposed RB Inyokern Data Center currently under review under CEC Docket 26-SPPE-01.
The Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin is formally designated as critically overdrafted. Current pumping is 20,840 acre-feet per year against the reported sustainable yield of only 7,650. A facility of this size, using evaporative cooling in desert conditions, can consume roughly 500,000 gallons of water per day – close to 8 percent of the basin’s entire sustainable annual yield, used by a single facility every day. Even at the numbers claimed by the developer, just the first phase would use almost 2% of our entire valley’s sustainable yield, with at least one more phase already announced, bringing the project to 198MW according to investment marketing materials.
This basin has no surface water. No river. No backup. The aquifer is the only source of water for 38,000 residents and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. Phase 2 of the water rights adjudication goes to trial June 1, 2026. The pipeline currently proposed to address this project has no appropriated funding or complete design, is considered by many to be unfeasible and depends on a State Water Project that delivered only 5% of contracted water in 2022 and sits at 30% for 2026. There is no margin for new large-scale groundwater demand at this time.
(Share other concerns you may have about other environmental impacts here)
I respectfully request a full environmental review with specific attention to water-supply impacts, and that any approval require the use of demonstrated water-neutral or dry-cooling technology before construction begins.
[Your Name]
Ridgecrest/Indian Wells Valley Resident
[Address and phone are optional, but they add weight]
Send it directly here:
CEC Project Manager — direct email: STEPsiting@energy.ca.gov
Kern County Planning — direct email: planning@kerncounty.com
Include these folks in the CC:
Kern County Supervisor Phillip Peters (District 1): district1@kerncounty.com
Kern County Supervisor Chris Parlier (District 2): district2@kerncounty.com
Kern County Supervisor Jeff Flores (District 3): district3@kerncounty.com
Kern County Supervisor David Couch (District 4): district4@kerncounty.com
Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez (District 5): district5@kerncounty.com
State Senator Shannon Grove (SD-12) — direct email: senator.grove@senate.ca.gov
Ridgecrest City Council: citycouncil@ridgecrest-ca.gov
Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority: akeigwin@rgs.ca.gov
If you have five extra minutes, contact these folks as well! They do not have a direct email, so you have to go in and enter the information on their web form. But it is worth it if you have time:
U.S. Congressman Vince Fong (CA-20) — web contact form: fong.house.gov
State Assemblymember Stan Ellis (AD-32) — web contact form: ad32.asmrc.org/contact-stan
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla — web contact form: padilla.senate.gov/contact
U.S. Senator Adam Schiff — web contact form: schiff.senate.gov/contact