Kelly Abreu, an engineer and co-founder of nonprofit Mission Peak Conservancy, said the project\u00a0has all the trappings of a data center.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m concerned about is the mislabeling. They are hiding it,\u201d Abreu told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cBy using this R&D terminology, it could reduce the stigma associated with data centers and reduce resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Google spokesperson repeatedly said this project is not going to be a data center, and that the facilities would be for the company\u2019s internal use only. The company is planning to use the 250 megawatts of power for computing lab space to support the engineering of its chip technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe facility does not include the standard backup power generation required for data centers because it is dedicated solely to internal Google lab work, meaning external customers do not rely on its uptime,\u201d the spokesperson told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWe are pursuing a site development permit for R&D use with the city, rather than a special use permit which would be required for a data center.\u201d<\/p>\n
R&D facilities are used for experimentation\u00a0and can include labs, rooms for equipment testing, ventilated enclosures to protect people from inhaling harmful chemicals and cleanrooms to keep contaminants out.\u00a0These types of facilities use 10 times less energy than a data center<\/a>, Abreu said.<\/p>\n Data centers, on the other hand, warehouse computer servers and data storage drives. They require cooling systems to prevent the\u00a0thousands of continuously running computers from overheating.\u00a0The project\u2019s blueprints<\/a> show multiple proposed cooling towers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at this building, you don\u2019t see an R&D lab, you see row after row after row of stacks of hardware,\u201d Abreu said. \u201cSo this building has all the characteristics (of a data center).\u201d<\/p>\n Shaolei Ren, an electrical engineering professor at University of California, Riverside whose work centers on artificial intelligence, said a typical R&D facility wouldn\u2019t need cooling towers, substations, generator yards or server rack configurations \u2014 unless the \u201cresearch and development\u201d activity itself needs a data center,\u00a0such as AI training.<\/p>\n \u201cA 250-megawatt substation is enough to power a mid-sized city, so the blueprint almost surely points to a data center,\u201d Ren told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIf 250-megawatts\u00a0is exclusively for the project, it will be one of the largest data centers in California.\u201d<\/p>\n Building data centers<\/p>\n Developers have faced pushback<\/a> from communities across the country against AI-focused data centers<\/a> due to\u00a0the exorbitant consumption of local energy and water,\u00a0as well as\u00a0harm to the environment<\/a> and public health. At a May 14 community meeting, Bhavesh Parikh, district director of real estate for Google, said the proposed R&D facility would use recycled water from nearby wetlands and run on mostly carbon-free energy.<\/p>\n Data centers produce a discharge of dissolved metals<\/a> and chemicals that can affect local drinking water and rivers if not properly treated. In places like Morgan and Newton counties in Georgia, residents\u2019 water became discolored<\/a> after the construction of Meta\u2019s data centers.<\/p>\n In the Southern California city of Monterey Park, residents overwhelmingly passed the nation\u2019s first permanent ban<\/a> on new data centers. Other California cities such as Montebello, Baldwin Park and El Monte have passed temporary bans.<\/p>\n San Jose is positioning itself to become the world\u2019s AI hub<\/a> even as residents have expressed concerns over the impacts of data centers. Last July, San Jose announced 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 The city 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 Residents opposed to project<\/p>\n Marcos Espinoza, president of Alviso in Action, said Google\u2019s lack of transparency is a \u201csmack in the face\u201d to the majority Latino North San Jose community that has been historically disadvantaged<\/a>. The area is already affected by a disproportionate amount<\/a> of environmental and health impacts from industrial pollution.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m shocked that they would try to not be straightforward,\u201d Espinoza told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cData centers are a big buzzword nowadays, so they try to keep that away from any development plans.\u201d<\/p>\n District 4 Councilmember David Cohen, who represents North San Jose, said he\u2019s not concerned about how the facility is labeled, but instead is focused on the facility using recycled water and having a grid designed to handle excess capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cHow one defines that is not important to me necessarily,\u201d Cohen told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWhat\u2019s important is how are they going to power and cool the facility. And my job is to make sure that the resources are there for them to do it, and that if they do it, it doesn\u2019t have an impact on the community.\u201d<\/p>\n The city does not plan to do a full environmental review of the proposed project, and instead will use prior California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reports\u00a0from 2000 and 2013 to analyze the current project.<\/p>\n \u201cA \u202fsubsequent or supplemental environmental impact report is not required for the project because based on the project description and information provided to the city, none of the conditions described in CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 (call) for the preparation of a subsequent (environmental impact review),\u201d Cort Hitchens, a city planner overseeing the project, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_7535-1024x768.jpeg\")
The city does not plan to do a full environmental review of the proposed project, and instead will use prior California Environmental Quality Act reports from 2000 and 2013. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
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