NorthPoint Data Center, Modesto, California

NorthPoint Development's interest in building a data center on the former FMC chemical plant site at 1200 Graphics Drive in Modesto, Stanislaus County, California, has drawn a march, a petition and a packed council meeting, though no application has been filed. After a four-hour Modesto City Council meeting in August 2026 attended by about 200 people, five of the seven council members said they favor a moratorium on data centers, and city staff are gathering information for a future council vote.

Councilman Chris Ricci posted on Facebook in late July that NorthPoint, a data center developer with an office in Sacramento, was lobbying council members about a data center. "If you have opinions about data centers, now is the time to let your council know," Ricci's post said, and it drew 319 comments within five hours. City officials later confirmed NorthPoint's interest in the Graphics Drive site near the Modesto Junior College East Campus. The 45-acre site has been empty since 1984; its cleanup of barium, strontium, arsenic and fuel contamination ended in 2007, and an application from NorthPoint to split it into two parcels was deemed complete in December 2025. The size, capacity and operator of any data center have not been confirmed.

Residents organized fast. Elizabeth Miranda Morales, a lifelong Modesto resident, started a Change.org petition against data centers in Modesto and Stanislaus County that passed 1,700 signatures in less than a week. "To think of a data center just running water 24/7 whenever they want, with probably no repercussions, is not fair to the residents," she said. Students with MJC Pirates for Peace, Modesto 50501 and the Central Valley Black, Indigenous and People of Color Coalition marched from Five Points to City Hall before the August 11 council meeting. Hannah Methvin of Pirates for Peace said a data center "is going to drive up energy and water costs for our residents."

The city says data centers are not an allowed land use under its municipal code, though residents and some council members worry the code could change once an application arrives. Mayor Sue Zwahlen said she had agreed to meet with a data center developer and needed more information. The Modesto Irrigation District said developers must pay for a study of their energy demand and impact before it decides whether it can serve them without harming existing customers. Nearby Patterson imposed a 45-day data center moratorium on July 16, 2026.

Whether a data center could be built in Modesto rests with the Modesto City Council, which would have to change the land use rules and is weighing a moratorium, and with the Modesto Irrigation District on power.