Retired engineer sounds alarm over Google's San Jose research facility
Google is constructing a large facility in San Jose, described by the company and city as a research and development site. However, a retired engineer alleges that the project's characteristics, including massive power needs, indicate it is actually a data center, and its classification may be an attempt to bypass stricter environmental and zoning reviews. The city of San Jose has expressed a desire to become a major data center hub.
Google is currently constructing a large facility named Meadow Point on Disk Drive in San Jose, California, which the company and the City of San Jose classify as a research facility. However, Kelly Abreu, a retired engineer from Fremont and co-founder of Mission Peak Conservancy, disputes this classification. Abreu asserts that the project's plans, showing a building full of server racks, large cooling towers, and a proposed 250 Megawatt power substation (significantly larger than other data center proposals in the city), strongly suggest it is a data center.
Abreu argues that by labeling the facility as "Research and Development" and pursuing a site development permit instead of a special use permit required for data centers, Google and the city may be attempting to bypass comprehensive environmental reviews. These reviews typically scrutinize energy use, water consumption, noise, and other environmental impacts associated with data centers. Despite growing statewide concerns about data centers' demands for power and water, San Jose has publicly expressed its ambition to become a leading data center capital.
A Google spokesperson reportedly stated that the facility is not a data center because it will not have the backup power capabilities required for external customers. Abreu questions why the city would seemingly avoid applying standard regulations for this project, especially when other data center developments in California have proceeded without such classification issues, suggesting a potential deliberate oversight by the city to facilitate the project.