City HallFriday, November 13
Mayor Mahan wants San Jose to pause data center approvals until new rules pass
The SJtoday team
Mayor Matt Mahan and Councilmembers Pamela Campos, David Cohen, Peter Ortiz, and Domingo Candelas announced a proposal Thursday to halt land use approvals for data centers until the City Council votes on uniform standards Dec. 8. It follows San José Spotlight's report that Google's Alviso project at 5087 Disk Drive could be approved first. KQED says the full council would consider the pause Tuesday.
The pause proposal comes before a Dec. 8 vote on standards
- Nov. 12Mahan and four councilmembers announce a proposal to halt data center approvals.
- Nov. 16District 4 holds a data center town hall at the South Bay Yacht Club.
- Nov. 18The Planning Commission will consider the latest version of the standards.
- Dec. 8The City Council is scheduled to vote on the standards.
Sources: San José Spotlight, the event's listing
- Electricity: 100% clean energy required
- Cooling: open-loop systems using drinkable water banned
- Backup generators: strictest federal emission standards, outages only
Not everyone thinks a pause goes far enough. Linda Hutchins-Knowles of Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley said it "needs to be extended beyond their current timeline." The city says its outreach included an August listening session with more than 330 participants. Want to weigh in? The District 4 town hall is Mon., Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m., at the South Bay Yacht Club. It's free.
Data center plans in San Jose add up fast
- 250 megawatts
- needed by Google's proposed Alviso data center
- 16
- data center projects in the city's development pipeline
- 800+ megawatts
- that planned north San Jose projects could use together
- 330+
- people at the city's August listening session
Sources: San José Spotlight, KQED, KRON4
Sources: San José Spotlight, KQED, KRON4, Eventbrite