San Jose could hit the brakes on data center projects

San Jose is considering a temporary pause on data center projects before development standards to guide limits on water use and other environmental impacts are finalized in December.

Mayor Matt Mahan and Councilmembers Pamela Campos, David Cohen, Peter Ortiz and Domingo Candelas on Thursday announced a proposal to halt land use approvals for data centers, putting a pause on any related projects before the City Council votes on uniform standards on Dec. 8. This move comes after San José Spotlight reported that Google’s data center in Alviso could be approved ahead of the standards. The project located at 5087 Disk Drive would require 250 megawatts — enough to power 250,000 households.

“After many months of community engagement and research, we are preparing to vote on the strictest proposed regulations for data centers in the country, which include requirements for 100% clean energy, closed loop water systems, union labor, monitoring and enforcement of noise restrictions, and bans on NDAs and any public subsidy,” Mahan told San José Spotlight. “But none of that matters if we allow projects to slip through just before these standards are adopted. The action we’re proposing is about holding every project to the same high bar — short of that would be an unacceptable betrayal of public trust.”

In the proposed standards, data center developers will be encouraged to enroll with San Jose Clean Energy, which supplies renewable power. Diesel backup generators must follow the strictest federal emission standards, and can only run when there are power outages. The San Jose Planning Commission will consider the latest version of the proposed standards on Nov. 18.

For months, residents have been demanding the city implement a moratorium on data centers before standards get put in place. But advocates such as Linda Hutchins-Knowles, co-founder of environmental nonprofit Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, said the proposed pause still falls short.

“I definitely appreciate there being a pause put now to stop any more getting through, but I still think that needs to be extended beyond their current timeline,” Hutchins-Knowles told San José Spotlight. “We believe that it would also be a betrayal of trust to not impose an actual moratorium in order to ensure that the standards are truly robust and that the community is on board. (The) city’s community engagement process was rushed and insufficient.”

San Jose began the process of drafting the development standards in June. When officials presented the draft proposal last month, residents decried how the standards fell short of covering the heat island effect and studying how low-frequency infrasound will affect the community.

Advocates have asked city officials to consult with state and county agencies to study the cumulative effects of bringing on the 16 data center projects in San Jose’s development pipeline. They have noted that the city’s efforts to become the world’s artificial intelligence capital is in conflict with developing standards to regulate the industry it wants to attract.

“The moratorium should be long enough to allow the city to conduct studies of the long-term cumulative impacts of the massive scale of data center development contemplated by the city, which are anticipated to triple our energy use,” a joint statement from eight environmental and advocate groups, including Green Foothills, the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter and Alviso in Action, reads.

Advocates have organized meetings and town halls in every council district to educate residents on data centers.

The city has also conducted its own outreach and incorporated some of the feedback it has received from residents, including prohibiting open loop cooling systems that use drinkable water and can consume millions of gallons of water a year. Instead, the city will require data centers to use recycled water or a closed loop system that circulates water through pipes to absorb heat from the electronics.

“The city must strike a balance between securing economic development and ensuring that growth is responsibly built,” a Nov. 6 memo from Planning Director Chris Burton said. “While the proposed standards do not address every concern raised through the community engagement process, they represent that balance.”

Ortiz, who oversees District 5 in East San Jose, said the city is seeing unprecedented interest from developers for data center projects, and San Jose has a responsibility to ensure growth will benefit residents.

“This proposed pause is not about stopping development. It’s about establishing responsible standards, protecting our communities and ensuring that industries benefiting from our city’s resources also contribute to addressing challenges like affordability,” Ortiz told San José Spotlight. “Economic growth should not come at the expense of our residents. It should improve their quality of life.”

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.