East Bay Data Center Plans Take Residents By Surprise

EAST BAY, CA — A former Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory supercomputing facility in downtown Oakland is expected to become a 20,000-square-foot artificial intelligence data center, according to reports.

The developers, Behring Company, announced plans to convert the facility at 415 20th St. into a data center that will serve research and operations at Stack Ventures, according to KTVU.

Stack Ventures, located one block away at 1900 Broadway, spans 1.3 million square feet and combines housing, offices, and facilities for artificial intelligence and robotics companies, according to reports.

The proposed conversion has drawn mixed reactions from the community.

Residents have raised environmental concerns and questioned transparency surrounding the project, while others see the potential to create local jobs and spur economic growth.

Oakland officials have not yet commented on the proposal.

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Behring Companies described the project as part of a broader vision for the area in a statement provided to KTVU.

Data centers have faced growing opposition in the Bay Area and more widely in California and across the country as artificial intelligence drives demand for computing capacity.

The facilities’ drive heavy electricity demands, water used for cooling, backup-generator emissions, noise, utility costs, and the level of public scrutiny projects receive.

California officials are examining how rapid data center growth could affect the electrical grid and ratepayers as the facilities’ share of peak electricity demand is projected to rise substantially through 2040, according to reports.

The Oakland debate comes amid growing scrutiny of data centers throughout California.

Residents and environmental groups have questioned how the facilities could affect electricity rates, water supplies, air quality, and surrounding neighborhoods, while also calling for greater disclosure of their resource use.

A 2026 California study found that publicly available information about data centers’ water consumption and cooling systems was often missing, inconsistent, or unclear.

In the meantime, some of the nation’s largest technology companies have begun securing dedicated sources of power rather than relying solely on existing utility capacity.

Meta has signed long-term agreements supporting nuclear generation, Microsoft backed the planned restart of a Pennsylvania nuclear reactor, and Google has contracted for power from proposed small modular reactors.

Other data center projects are turning to on-site or nearby natural-gas generation, adding another dimension to debates over whether communities and utility customers could bear environmental and infrastructure costs created by the AI industry.

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