An unsolicited inbound inquiry to SunshineFM from an independent researcher studying data center feasibility in the Coachella Valley coincides with renewed scrutiny of the Stargate AI infrastructure project — announced at $500 billion in January 2025 — which has produced no completed facilities and dissolved into separate bilateral deals between OpenAI, Oracle, CoreWeave, and major cloud providers. Adjacent Imperial Valley is currently facing community opposition and active litigation over California’s largest proposed data center, approved 5-0 by city council despite resident objections.
The Coachella Valley presents a mixed picture for data center viability. On the favorable side: 350+ days of sunshine supporting solar energy, available land, and proximity to Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Diego. On the constraint side: water scarcity and groundwater management challenges, an electric grid requiring significant upgrades, insufficient broadband infrastructure, extreme summer temperatures exceeding 120°F creating cooling cost burdens, and documented community resistance to large-scale industrial development. Larry Ellison’s existing valley footprint — Indian Wells Tennis Garden and Sensei Porcupine Creek — represents the most credible pathway for AI infrastructure investment of this scale, given his direct involvement in the Stargate announcement alongside Sam Altman. Edge data centers, smaller regional facilities with lower resource demands, have been identified as a more feasible near-term option than hyperscale facilities.