Fresno, CA

Fresno, CA

ABC30 reported in February 2026 that Fresno has three data centers, described as small and focused on internet services rather than AI, one of them in a north Fresno industrial park. A Bloomberg analysis cited by Fresnoland in 2025 found no AI data centers in the San Joaquin Valley. A PG&E executive told Reuters in May 2025 that the utility saw proposed developments in the Fresno area, without naming projects.

Facilities reported

3

NAS Lemoore, Kings County, CA (adjacent to Fresno County)

In September 2025 Ameresco and the U.S. Navy announced a 100 MW AI-optimized data center on land Ameresco leases from the Department of Defense at NAS Lemoore, with CyrusOne delivering the data center infrastructure and Ameresco building co-located on-site generation as a microgrid. The first phase was expected to be operational by 2027. Construction status was not reported in the sources we opened.

Mw

100

Developer

Ameresco with CyrusOne; U.S. Navy host

First phase target

2,027

Tulare County Fairgrounds, Tulare, CA (adjacent to Fresno County)

Global Stack proposed edge computing infrastructure on the Tulare County Fairgrounds. On July 21, 2026 the fair board tabled the rental agreement after public opposition over whether the project is a data center. Size and power figures were not available in the portion of reporting we could open.

Developer

Global Stack

Fresno and Kings counties, CA

At the October 2026 International Forum for Agricultural Robotics, Kingman Ag co-founder Zach Sheely, who farms in Fresno and Kings counties, showed self-driving tractor technology developed on his farm and said such tractors can run three shifts a day. Vendors said customers use existing crews rather than replacing them, and Sheely said grower adoption is still low. A farmworker advocate quoted in the same report expressed unease about labor-saving robots.

Shifts per day claimed

3

Adoption

low, per grower quoted

Fresno State, Fresno, CA

ABC30 reported in February 2026 that a citrus harvesting robot is being tested at Fresno State, framed as saving time and labor costs. Developer, funding, and test results were not stated in the report we opened. Secondary reports (not opened) say industry growers have observed field trials.

Stage

field testing

Southwest Fresno, CA

Amazon opened an approximately 855,000-square-foot robotic fulfillment center in southwest Fresno in July 2019, with robots moving inventory between stations across four floors and 2,500 associates at opening. Current staffing and any recent automation changes at this site were not found in reporting we could open.

Sq ft

855,000

Associates at opening

2,500

City of Fresno, Fresno County, CA

On Sept. 3, 2026 the Fresno City Council adopted a resolution (File 26-1187, sponsored by Councilmember Nick Richardson) initiating a municipal code text amendment to prohibit data centers in the city; reporting put the vote at 7-0. The vote did not enact a ban. Council direction added notification of councilmembers if an application is filed and coverage of land annexed later. Richardson proposed a 10-year ban; Mayor Jerry Dyer co-sponsored and said his office had been drafting a permanent code preclusion, citing water and power demands and few jobs. The amendment goes through environmental review, the Airport Land Use Commission, and the Planning Commission before a final council vote. The mayor's office said no data center plans exist for Fresno.

Council vote

7-0 (Sept. 3, 2026)

Proposed duration

10 years (Richardson); permanent code change (Dyer)

Pending applications

none reported

PG&E service territory, including Fresno County, CA

In July 2025 PG&E reported 10 GW of data center demand over ten years, with 17 projects (about 1.5 GW) in final engineering, mostly in the Bay Area and some in the Central Valley and Sacramento. The CPUC approved PG&E's interim Electric Rule 30, which gives faster transmission-level connections to applicants that pay for needed transmission upfront; a permanent rule was still pending. In February 2026 a PG&E spokesperson told ABC30 the utility works with operators so they pay for new infrastructure before it is built.

Pge data center pipeline (GW)

10

Final engineering (GW)

1.5

Rule 30

interim approved; final pending

State of California

Governor Newsom signed seven data center bills: SB 887 ends CEQA categorical exemptions for data centers; AB 1577 requires energy-use disclosure at permitting and annual reporting to the Energy Commission; AB 2619 and AB 2469 require water-use estimates, annual water reports, and (from 2028) water-supply assessments and scarcity plans; SB 886 requires CPUC tariffs so data centers pay infrastructure and generation costs, with an early termination fee within 10 years of interconnection; AB 2383 requires tariffs with 10-year minimum payments and collateral; SB 1168 directs fair-share transmission and distribution cost recovery. Several tariff requirements are due by Jan. 1, 2028. This follows SB 57 (2025), which ordered a CPUC study of cost shifts. Summary is from a law firm analysis; check bill text before citing specifics.

Signed

2026-09-21

Bills

SB 887, AB 1577, AB 2619, AB 2469, SB 886, AB 2383, SB 1168

State of California

In late September 2026 Governor Newsom signed SB 947, which bars employers from relying solely on automated decision systems to discipline or fire workers and requires human corroboration and post-use notice (compliance date July 1, 2027), reversing his October 2025 veto of an earlier, broader version (SB 7). SB 951 requires Cal/WARN mass layoff notices to state when AI or automation substantially caused the layoff (effective Jan. 1, 2027), which will create a new public signal of AI-attributed layoffs. AB 1883 bars AI workplace surveillance that infers emotional states or collects neural data, and AB 1331 limits workplace surveillance in bathrooms (both Jan. 1, 2027).

Sb 947 compliance date

2027-07-01

Sb 951 effective

2027-01-01

Ab 1883 effective

2027-01-01

State of California (affects Valley freight corridors such as SR-99 and I-5)

On April 28, 2026 California's Office of Administrative Law approved DMV regulations allowing autonomous heavy-duty commercial vehicle operations, which had previously been excluded. Permits follow staged testing with safety drivers before driverless deployment. The DMV milestones page does not say whether any heavy-duty permits have been issued. Trucking and warehousing are large employers in the Valley, which is why this matters for the physical exposure dimension.

Oal approval

2026-04-28

Heavy duty permits issued

not reported

City of Fresno, CA

Fresnoland reported in July 2026 that the city has no formal AI policy; the city manager said an informal policy exists and needs to become an administrative order. A city memo lists about two dozen allowed programs with AI features, including Madison AI for staff reports, Wordly AI for council meeting transcription and Spanish translation, Claude in the Information Services Department, Microsoft Copilot, and Axon software that drafts police reports (part of an $18.3 million five-year Axon contract). At a June 8, 2026 budget hearing a councilmember asked staff what AI costs the city.

Formal policy

none as of 2026-07-10

Allowed ai programs listed

about 24

Fresno, Merced and surrounding Central Valley counties, CA

The F3 coalition, led by the Central Valley Community Foundation, received $65.1 million from the federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge in 2022. Its AgTEC certificate trains incumbent farmworkers in 14 competencies including digital literacy and tool operation, in English and Spanish, at seven Central Valley community colleges; as of August 2024 it had launched at four of them, with cohorts of about 20 to 25. Reedley College students train on tractors and an autonomous rover. Partners include Fresno State, UC Merced, and farmworker organizations.

Federal award (USD)

65,100,000

Community colleges

7

Competencies

14

Fresno, CA

Fresno State launched an AI minor open to any major starting fall 2026 (20 to 21 units) and offers an AI certificate for community members. Fresno State and Fresno City College co-ran free five-hour public AI workshops on June 6 and July 11, 2026, sponsored by Granville Homes. In 2025 the executive director of the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board said the board was developing AI-related training programs.

Ai minor units

20-21

Public workshops 2026

2

State of California (community colleges, CSU including Fresno State, high schools)

On Aug. 7, 2025 the governor announced no-cost agreements with Google, Adobe, IBM, and Microsoft to provide AI training and tools to more than two million students across high schools, community colleges, and the CSU system, including IBM short-term certificates and regional AI labs in community college career education and Microsoft AI bootcamps for community college faculty. A CSU memorandum created an industry AI workforce acceleration board.

Students reached claimed

over 2 million

Cost to state

none (per announcement)