Silicon Valley is home to the largest density of data centers per square mile in the United States, with more than 120 data centers in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and San José. As residents are forced to contend with dirtier air and a shrinking supply of buildable land, we must question in whose best interest it is to build more AI data centers. These centers are a massive investment, financed by the utility companies that build them and the customers that pay those companies. The speed of that growth may come at the expense of the environment and already-high housing costs. We need to push city leaders to regulate data center construction more tightly until environmental protections and housing safeguards are established.
Within data centers are thousands of computer chips that enable the rapid processing of artificial intelligence tasks for everything from large language model training, image recognition and recommendation systems to applications in biotechnology, banks and government agencies. Additionally, San José dominates PG&E’s ambitious internal pipeline of proposed electricity construction projects. Officials have actively promoted the city as a “launchpad” for AI economic development, emphasizing that data centers will boost local job opportunities. However, they are a massive use of energy and electricity that could otherwise go to residents in the form of more community resources, such as affordable housing and green spaces. Data center developers statewide have requested 18.7 gigawatts of service capacity — more than enough to power every household in California. Plus, unlike a retail center or park, a data center may employ as few as 25 permanent staff, meaning these facilities aren’t as efficient in creating jobs for as many people as they may seem.
Data center emissions have nearly tripled from 2019 to 2023 in a stark contradiction to the clean energy goals that San José supposedly stands for. Diesel backup generators in these centers produce large amounts of fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other pollutants linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has already flagged multiple areas in Santa Clara County as having high diesel particulate burdens.
Currently, electricity consumption from data centers constitutes over 1.5% of global electricity consumption. This has grown at an astounding 12% per year — a rate that is only increasing. Additionally, 56% of the energy used to power data centers comes from fossil fuels.
“AI data centers use an enormous amount of energy, since these AI chips run continuously,” Conservation Action Association activities coordinator Jaahnavi Tirumala said. “Unfortunately, this energy often comes from fossil fuels rather than sustainable energy sources because the data centers require extremely stable power.”
Data centers take up a large amount of land for development and water infrastructure, even as affordable housing is already an issue in San José. Activists in multiple cities have petitioned against their continued construction, highlighting the fact that they may be simply fulfilling the aims of corporate tech giants rather than the opinion of local residents. In San José, this land could otherwise be dedicated to tackling the community’s housing problems, alleviating issues with high-density affordable housing near transit, low-income homeownership projects or mixed-use apartment buildings over shops.
Without transparency and communication about who exactly will shoulder the burden of paying for grid updates or electricity rates, data center construction is bound to generate distrust. While initiatives such as San José Clean Energy have made energy more affordable for residents, more discussion between the city and the public is necessary. As AI companies expand and more data is stored and processed, so does the need to impose proper regulations that support technological advancement while prioritizing local needs.
“As AI becomes more integrated into everyday systems, the computing infrastructure behind it will become just as important as other core infrastructure that supports society,” software engineering and executive consulting expert Bob Singh said. “At the same time, data centers can require significant electricity and cooling resources, so cities like San José need to think carefully about sustainability, energy sourcing and long-term environmental impact. The goal shouldn’t be to stop technological progress, but to guide it responsibly with thoughtful policies and efficient technologies.”
