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San Jose is becoming a central location for data center development, with PG&E receiving requests to supply electricity to 11 projects totaling 1,630 megawatts—enough for 1.2 million homes. Hayward follows with four projects for 975 megawatts.

The facilities are essential for processing AI tasks, amid a surge in investments in the sector. Concerns exist regarding their massive power consumption and potential impact on electricity reliability and water supply.

San Jose’s proximity to Fortune 500 tech companies and a favorable power-supply deal with PG&E are driving development. A new 99-megawatt data center could generate $3.5 to $6.4 million in annual tax revenue for the city.

However, PG&E's infrastructure costs for data centers may lead to higher electricity bills for consumers. The city has also made agreements with PG&E for necessary upgrades to support the data centers. Seventeen of the 26 data centers in PG&E's pipeline are expected to start in the next five years.