Public comment corpus
Imperial Irrigation District
September 15, 2026 · Large-load tariff / data centers · 3 spoken public comments
Official meeting recording (Granicus)
| Speaker | Time | Comment (verbatim) |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Rodriguez | 0:32:35 | Good afternoon, members of the board, audience. Thank you for those comments. Madam Chair and board members, to the staff that presented this presentation, outstanding work. I've been following it. Really proud of all the work you guys put in. And for the record, I'm not related to the presenter, Mr. Rodriguez. We have the same last name. Because we have a reporter present who likes to exaggerate things. For the record, I'm very proud of you. The idea, I know it's been a tough summer. We've all endured it. And still you keep the lights on despite our little storms we're having. Apparently they love Calexico and Holville area. That area gets it. And El Centro and Imperial don't. And I'm very proud about you looking out for us, the rate payers. Unlike the county board of supervisors, we don't know their left and their right. As you've seen, the court case they have lost. They tried to push a CEQA adjustment today. They got tabled. Because the public spoke out again. And we're going to keep speaking out because they don't get it right. They've lost four or five court cases. And yet they still allow that developer to speak as their public spokesperson. And I think that's terrible. And it sends the wrong message for our community. But for you, the board, for standing up and putting this here, even people in Coachella Valley are very proud of your efforts, what you've done. They have concerns. And you can see the reaction to what Coachella did and Indio done regarding data centers. They woke everyone up for a change. And you wake up a sleeping giant of voters. If they elected, do the right thing. They listened to the voters. You got done the right thing. You put out public comment. There may be criticism from some people in the audience. Look, where's Mr. Eric Reyes? Not in the room, right? He's your biggest critic for all the wrong reasons just to hear his voice. Because he wants a little check. Give him nothing. Thank you. |
| Jake Tison | 0:34:49 | Jake Tyson. Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez. I have a lot to say, I have a lot to say, to the people. that happens in the future. I hope maybe some of these questions might, I don't know, ring a bell later on. This tariff reaches beyond hyperscale AI data centers. Depending on their electricity demand and operating patterns, it could cover cryptocurrency mining, lithium processing, and other major industrial facilities. I oppose hyperscale AI data centers in Imperial Valley because our communities should not shoulder their demands for electricity and water or the pollution from their generators. This tariff must protect the people who pay the bills, depend on our water, and breathe our air. Senator Steve Padilla's state bill 887 offers a starting point. Its proposed conditions for data center streamlining include no increase in statewide fossil fuel consumption, four hours of zero carbon storage at full forecast peak demand, and developer-funded grid investments. I'm asking you to strengthen four specific provisions. And this is just from the PDF, so I don't know, I didn't get all the actual numbers and stuff, but page 45, characteristics of the interruption require reduced operations on non-combustion resources during curtailment. Do not protect the electricity by sacrificing our air. On page 44, large load interconnection process. Prohibit energization until adequate water supplies are verified and required environmental reviews and permits are completed. Kind of added in there. In page 46, electric service agreement. Make these protections binding in every agreement with monitoring public compliance reports and consequences for violations. Individual contracts must not weaken them. In page 52, collateral requirements require security covering potential exit fee exposure. Do not leave that protection discretionary. Residents must not inherit a failed developer's unpaid obligation to protect their energy and water resources. Do not leave that protection to the anv, a � community. So my suggestion is to write that obligation into the tariff. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tyson. Third and final speaker, Gilberto. |
| Gilberto Manzanares | 0:38:13 | Good afternoon, board, board members, members of the public. My name is Gilberto Mastanares. I'm a member of Valle Impera Resiste, which is a collective of residents who advocate for socioeconomic and environmental justice in the Valley. I want to speak in support of this proposition, a large low tariff, in order for it to move forward. The people of Imperial Valley should not be asked to subsidize some of the world's largest corporations. We live at a time where hardworking families are struggling with the cost of housing, groceries, gas, and more. But at the same time, across this country, we continue to see corporations receiving special treatment by offering tax incentives, subsidies, infrastructure, and other benefits in the name of economic development, despite data showing that they're benefiting from historic records of profitability. At some point, we have to draw a line about what is fair. If a corporation wants to come into Imperial Valley and build a facility requiring hundreds of megawatts of electricity, then that corporation should be responsible for the costs necessary to meet that demand, not the ratepayers. Those costs should not be passed down to struggling, hardworking families in Calexico, Brawley, El Centro, Imperial, and anywhere else in our Valley. We believe this tariff represents an important step in the right direction towards economic justice. If these corporations can afford to build facilities that consume hundreds of megawatts of electricity, they can also afford to pay for the infrastructure necessary to operate them. Our families should come first, and making large low customers pay their own way is the place where we can start. Thank you. |