Residents Push Back On San Jose Data Centers

San Jose’s push to attract more data centers hit public resistance at an April 21 City Council meeting, where residents challenged the city’s plan for a dozen large power users. (sanjosespotlight.com) San José Spotlight reported that what was expected to be a routine policy review turned into a line of residents objecting to environmental impacts and pressure on the electric grid. City officials said any future project would still face environmental review, outreach and public hearings. (sanjosespotlight.com) Ellina Yin of Dreaming Collaborative organized a letter-writing campaign before the meeting and said a petition opposing the city’s approach had gathered more than 800 signatures. Yin said residents had seen “little to no meaningful community engagement” as the plans moved forward. (sanjosespotlight.com) The city’s strategy accelerated on July 25, 2025, when San Jose and Pacific Gas and Electric signed an implementation agreement aimed at making it easier to deliver power to large energy customers, including data centers. The city said the deal covered 12 projects by 2030 and was backed by nearly 2,000 megawatts of requested new data-center demand in the area. (sanjoseca.gov) PG&E and the city have already pointed to one early result. On January 21, 2026, PG&E, Equinix and Mayor Matt Mahan held a ribbon-cutting for Equinix’s SV12 facility in South San Jose, the first of the 12 large-load customers tracked under the agreement. (pge.com) City Hall argues the projects could bring revenue and jobs while using existing review rules rather than a separate fast track. Erica Garaffo of the City Manager’s Office told San José Spotlight that “data center projects do not receive pre-approval or a fast-track for approval.” (sanjosespotlight.com) Residents are also reacting to specific proposals already in the pipeline. One city environmental-review page describes a 396,914-square-foot data center at 1657 Alviso-Milpitas Road with a maximum electrical load of 99 megawatts and 224 renewable natural gas generators, plus diesel backup units. (sanjoseca.gov) Another proposed project is moving through the planning calendar now. San Jose’s Planning, Building and Code Enforcement department lists a community meeting for a site development permit covering 5079 and 5087 Disk Drive, 65 and 95 Nortech Parkway, and 4550 North 1st Street under file numbers H26-005 and ER26-025. (sanjoseca.gov) The immediate fight is no longer over whether San Jose wants data centers. It is over how many the city can absorb, where they go, and whether residents can slow projects before the grid, traffic and industrial footprint grow with them. (sanjosespotlight.com)