URGENT UPDATE: Southern California’s industrial town of Vernon is rapidly evolving into a pivotal hub for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Just five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, the area is now home to the massive LAX01 data center, which alone consumes enough electricity to power over 26,400 homes for a year.
New reports confirm that Vernon is experiencing a surge in AI-related development, with major players like Prime Data Centers at the forefront. The three-story, 242,000-square-foot facility is part of a broader trend reshaping this historically industrial area. Michael Wall, executive vice president at Prime Data Centers, stated, “The race toward superintelligence is reshaping infrastructure requirements across every industry.”
As 2025 approaches, major corporations including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta have committed a staggering $465 billion to bolster AI computing and networking infrastructure. This wave of investment is crucial; one Harvard economist indicates that without such data center advancements, America’s GDP growth could face significant stagnation.
Vernon, with its population of just over 200 residents, is uniquely positioned due to its independent utility services, which provide electricity at rates significantly lower than other Southern California providers. The city’s utility can offer excess power capacity at costs as low as half of competing services.
As demand for AI technology skyrockets, developers are rapidly acquiring properties in Vernon, enhancing them with state-of-the-art cooling systems and transforming old facilities, including a shuttered slaughterhouse, into high-tech centers. “We haven’t seen new data center development in a long time in Southern California,” said Darren Eades, managing director of JLL. “There’s a new wave that’s hitting the coast, primarily driven by AI.”
Vernon’s appeal is heightened by its lack of NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard), as its sparse population means fewer objections to potential noise or environmental concerns associated with data centers. Despite nationwide opposition to data center projects in various communities, Vernon has not encountered any local objections, according to city officials.
In a response to concerns, the city stated, “No additional power or water purchases are needed to support the new electrical load and water demand.” This assurance has contributed to a supportive environment for developers looking to capitalize on the AI boom.
However, analysts warn that the escalating demand for power could lead to rising electricity costs in the future. California is already the nation’s third-largest data center hub, trailing behind Texas and Virginia. As data centers proliferate, utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric plan to invest $73 billion in upgrading transmission lines to meet the increased electricity demand.
Local legislation restricts new projects to 49.9 megawatts of power to avoid extensive bureaucratic challenges, influencing the scale of developments in Vernon. Yet, as the need for AI capacity grows, even Vernon’s ample power supply may soon reach its limits.
Robert Brooks, vice president of sales at Lambda, a cloud computing firm leasing a significant portion of the LAX01 data center, remarked, “We didn’t use to speak in megawatts when we thought of data centers; we used to think in terms of just kilowatts.”
As more tech giants look to Vernon for their AI operations, the implications for the local economy and infrastructure are profound. Stay tuned for further updates as this developing story unfolds in Southern California’s unexpected AI landscape.