Housing & Development · Amador County
Amador County Data Center Project Faces New State Regulations and Moratorium Push
New York Green Cloud's proposed "carbon negative" data center at the refurbished Buena Vista biomass plant in Amador County faces uncertainty after Governor Newsom signed seven data-center bills in late September 2026, including SB 887 which removes blanket environmental review exemptions. Separately, AB 706, signed Sept. 30, offers incentives to biomass plants using forest-waste fuel but imposes conditions—including a 60% high-hazard-zone fuel requirement and a retail-sale mandate—that NYGC CEO Dr. Joe Church has declined to confirm Buena Vista can meet. Amador County residents are pushing their Board of Supervisors to adopt a moratorium similar to the 45-day urgency measure Calaveras County passed in August. Whether the new laws apply to Buena Vista's first phase (filed at 5 megawatts) remains unsettled, as AB 1577 exempts data centers under 10 MW.