The goal of creating these standards isn\u2019t to simply regulate data centers, but to create a flexible framework to support economic growth and responsible development, the memo states. The City Manager\u2019s Office will return with these standards to the full\u00a0City Council in December.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is important, that we as a city have an opportunity to be at the forefront of this, given the concerns that we\u2019re hearing,\u201d Candelas said at the meeting.<\/p>\n Dash Leeds, conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, said the city is racing toward developing data centers before seeking meaningful input from residents.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are concerned that these standards, if left up to the city, could merely streamline the data center approval process without creating robust protections,\u201d Leeds told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe city should restore the trust it has broken by pausing its data center rush and allowing the community to write the standards that should be meant to protect us.\u201d<\/p>\n San Jose has roughly 20 data centers in operation, with more to come. Six more data centers are under construction, and five are in the entitlement review process to obtain city approvals before beginning construction, according to Erica Garaffo, assistant to the city manager.<\/p>\n Deputy City Manager Manuel Pineda said the city doesn\u2019t know which data centers are going to be used for artificial intelligence. At no point in the process is the city aware of what the data centers will be used for unless the developer discloses it, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a data center comes in, they don\u2019t discuss with us whether there\u2019s going to be a AI data center or a different type of data center,\u201d Pineda told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cObviously, data centers are used for a lot of things \u2014 banking, medical and many other things \u2014 but that\u2019s not something that they disclose to us.\u201d<\/p>\n While many data centers use water to cool sensitive electronic equipment,\u00a0AI-focused data centers<\/a>\u00a0consume significantly more energy and water, and can cause more harm to the environment and public health.<\/p>\n As the water evaporates, data centers produce a\u00a0discharge of dissolved metals<\/a>\u00a0and chemicals that can affect local drinking water and rivers if not properly treated. In places like Morgan and Newton counties in Georgia, residents\u2019\u00a0water became discolored<\/a>\u00a0after the construction of Meta\u2019s data centers.<\/p>\n Pineda said the city will host in-person community meetings before finalizing the standards.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t tell you what the outreach will be just yet, but we\u2019ll try to reach as many people as we can for individual projects,\u201d Pineda told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Advocates don\u2019t trust the city to come up with these standards unilaterally. They have pushed for more transparency and information regarding AI data centers in the pipeline, and have called for a pause on approving more data centers before the impacts have been studied and standards have been set.<\/p>\n Cohen opposed pausing development and said\u00a0data centers take years to come online.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not something where a proposal comes forward and six months later there\u2019s a groundbreaking,\u201d Cohen said at the meeting. \u201cThe idea that we would somehow pause the process of working with people who are considering projects just doesn\u2019t necessarily make sense from a development and economic development standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n Pineda said the city will\u00a0create a website where people can see the current and proposed projects and where they will be located, as well as where they are in the process.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good step so far, but (we) definitely just got to see what more they\u2019ll do, and see if it\u2019s just something that they\u2019re just checking the box,\u201d Marcos Espinoza, president of Alviso in Action, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Last July, San Jose\u00a0announced a partnership<\/a>\u00a0with PG&E that aims to make it easier to develop data centers and other large-scale energy use projects in the city.<\/p>\n Under the agreement, PG&E is tasked with providing power and making grid improvements for 12\u00a0projects by 2030. In addition, the utility will also fund\u00a0six city staff positions<\/a>\u00a0who will coordinate and streamline projects as they move through the approval and construction process.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to trust without details, and we haven\u2019t been provided any concrete details,\u201d\u00a0Ellina Yin<\/a>, who leads the civic engagement nonprofit Dreaming Collaborative, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThey\u2019re not being transparent of what type of data centers they\u2019re building, and actually, how much different they are than traditional data centers.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Joyce Chu at\u00a0joyce@sanjosespotlight.com\u00a0or @joyce_speaks on X.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781794637_554_LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg\")
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