San Jose Weighs Pause on New Data Center Approvals
The proposed pause would cover land-use approvals for data centers and other large-energy-use projects. It is intended to keep projects from moving forward before the City Council considers updated rules and community benefit provisions, scheduled for December 8. The city is reviewing 11 pending data center applications.
The proposed rules would require data centers to use 100% carbon-neutral electricity and prohibit open-loop cooling. They would also require the cleanest backup generators, continued limits on noise, water and energy use, along with oversight. Workforce provisions would include requirements for skilled and trained workers and prevailing wages.
Mahan, together with Pamela Campos, David Cohen, Domingo Candelas and Peter Ortiz, said they would introduce the pause proposal after months of community outreach. They also proposed an urgency ordinance that would make the new standards effective immediately after the council vote.
The proposal comes amid opposition to new data centers nationally. A poll conducted during the November midterm elections found majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents opposed to new data centers in their communities.
San Jose Moves to Keep Data Centers From Outrunning Oversight
San Jose’s proposed pause would prevent new data center and other large-energy project approvals from slipping through before the city adopts standards shaped through months of community outreach. That is a meaningful safeguard as the council considers rules for 11 pending data center applications.
The proposed requirements put environmental protections and public accountability at the center: carbon-neutral electricity, a ban on open-loop cooling, strict backup-generator standards, and continuing limits and monitoring for noise, water and energy use. Workforce protections would include skilled and trained labor and prevailing wages.
Mahan, alongside Pamela Campos, David Cohen, Domingo Candelas and Peter Ortiz, also want an urgency ordinance to make the standards effective immediately after the December 8 vote. Their position is that approving projects before the rules are in place would undercut the residents who helped shape them.
The proposal reflects a broader public concern: polling during the November midterm elections found majorities across Democrats, Republicans and independents opposed to new data centers in their communities. San Jose is right to put enforceable safeguards before approvals, rather than ask residents to accept projects first and protections later.
San Jose’s Proposed Data Center Freeze Risks Delaying Projects
San Jose leaders want to pause approvals for data centers and other large-energy projects while the City Council considers new rules on December 8. The city has 11 pending data center applications, and the proposed freeze would keep them from receiving new land-use approvals before that vote.
The planned standards would call for electricity that is entirely carbon neutral, ban open-loop cooling, impose generator requirements and establish continuing limits and oversight for noise, water and energy use. They would also mandate skilled and trained workers and prevailing wages. An urgency ordinance would make the rules effective immediately after the council acts.
The mayor and councilmembers say the pause is needed to ensure projects cannot move ahead before the standards are adopted. But an open-ended wait for a new regulatory framework can put proposed development on hold while officials decide what conditions to impose. The council’s December 8 vote is now the key step for applicants and residents alike.
Polling during the November midterm elections found majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents opposed to new data centers in their communities. That opposition is real, but it does not resolve how San Jose should balance local concerns with the consequences of sweeping restrictions on proposed projects.
Reported by CBS San Francisco, SFist.
