A proposed 99MW data center development in the unincorporated community of Inyokern, Kern County, California, is drawing both support from labor and economic groups and significant opposition from local residents, municipal authorities, and a nearby military installation. The project, named the RB Inyokern Data Center (RBIDC) and filed by R&L Capital, Inc. with the California Energy Commission, highlights the growing tension between the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure and the concerns of communities in the state's inland regions.
The single-story facility is planned for a 50-acre site near the intersection of US Highway 395 and State Route 178. It would encompass 238,000 square feet across six data halls and include an on-site substation. The campus will employ both liquid and air cooling technologies and feature canopy solar panels in its parking lot. The first phase of the development is expected to deliver 60MW of capacity, with construction slated to begin in April 2027 and a target operational date of November 2028.
The project's backup power system has emerged as a central point of contention. According to the filing, the data center would be equipped with 40 diesel-fired generator sets, each rated at 3MW, capable of providing up to 99MW of emergency backup generation. This reliance on diesel generators has fueled local opposition, with a Change.org petition launched in May 2026 gathering more than 1,140 signatures at the time of reporting.
While the project has secured formal endorsements from the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, the Kern, Inyo, & Mono Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, and the Kern Economic Development Corporation, it faces a formidable array of opponents. The Eastern Kern County Resource Conservation District, the city of Ridgecrest, the China Lake Naval Base, and the Sierra Sands Unified School District have all submitted letters of opposition to the California Energy Commission. Additionally, the Indian Wells Valley Airport, also known as Inyokern Airport, has requested an aviation impact analysis of the proposed structure.
The conflict underscores a broader challenge for data center development in California, where the need for power-intensive computing infrastructure increasingly clashes with local environmental and land-use priorities. As the project moves through the regulatory process, the outcome in Kern County could serve as a bellwether for similar proposals across the state.
Source: datacenterdynamics