The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors in December adopted a resolution that calls for the setting of guideline principles to ensure that new large electric energy loads do not compromise the reliability of the local electric grid or impact the costs to existing customers.
The Board’s action, taken during its meeting on December 22, supports the need for clear safeguards to protect ratepayers and establish careful planning in light of the recent interest in large industrial loads, such as data centers, on the utility and its customers, the California public power utility noted.
“Our concern is for the overall well-being of our ratepayers by having proper parameters in place, and we are taking these precautions very seriously,” said Director Karin Eugenio, newly elected IID Board Chairwoman for 2026.
The Board’s resolution states that “prudent utility governance requires clear safeguards, expert analysis, and transparent processes to ensure that new electric loads do not burden ratepayers or compromise electrical reliability.”
The resolution affirms the following principles: ratepayer protection, maintaining reliability, full cost recovery and speculation controls, expert-driven decision-making, and transparency and public accountability.
The document directs the development and implementation of the appropriate policies and procedures consistent with these directives.
IID General Manager Jamie Asbury will coordinate the implementation and maintenance of the policies, procedures, and evaluation frameworks consistent with the principles in the resolution and provide necessary recommendations.
In the resolution, the District clarifies that it is not a land-use or permitting authority and does not determine whether or where development projects are built.
“We are not opposed to progress,” added Eugenio, “but development should enhance the community, and we need to be vigilant when a proposal raises concerns about ratepayers, reliability, and community well-being.”
While the resolution does not mention any specific project, there is current interest across the nation regarding data centers due to the large energy demands they require, as well as the water needed for cooling, IID noted.
Current local public interest concerns an unincorporated area of Imperial County, near the City of Imperial and surrounding areas, where a large data center is being considered by the County of Imperial and developers.
