COUNCIL AGENDA: 11/18/2025
FILE: 25-1212
ITEM: 8.2
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND
CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Councilmember Candelas
Councilmember Campos
Councilmember Ortiz
Councilmember Casey
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: 11/14/2025
APPROVED:
SUBJECT: Request for Qualification Selection of Developer and Backup Developer for 159 Acres at the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility
RECOMMENDATION
Approve Staff recommendation with these additions:
1. Consider incorporating environmental safeguards to minimize any potential unintended impacts to the surrounding community.
2. Engage with key stakeholders like the Building Trades Unions BACKGROUND:
Data centers impose environmental burdens, largely due to energy and water demands. A recent study estimated that over 2,100 U.S. data centers accounted for over 4% of national electricity consumption, with more than half of that energy derived from fossil fuels, contributing substantially to CO₂ emissions1.
1 Guidi et.al, Environmental Burden of United States Data Centers in the Artificial Intelligence Era , ArXiv, 14 Nov 2024, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.09786
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 14, 2025
Subject: Request for Qualification Selection of Developer and Backup Developer for 159 Acres at the San José- Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility
Water is another critical and often overlooked resource. Data centers generate a lot of heat and rely on water-based cooling systems, which in some cases consume millions of gallons per day. This dual pressure on electricity and water resources can intensify environmental concerns, especially when located in already marginalized communities.
We request that City staff consider doing a policy going forward to help address concerns and ensure adequate participation from key stakeholders in future data center development.
The signers of this memorandum have not had, and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’s staff members have not had, and have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.