Real estate firm Prologis has proposed a three-story data center at 326 Charcot Ave. in North San Jose, near the corner of Zanker Road and Charcot Avenue, according to The Press Democrat. The project would total 514,000 square feet of data center space plus 30,000 square feet of office space, replacing five existing industrial buildings, and is designed for a total power capacity of 99 megawatts with an onsite substation and backup generator in a dedicated yard.
To power the site, Prologis's proposal calls for expanding PG&E's nearby Trimble substation to add switchgear connecting to two transmission lines that would tie into the data center's own on-site substation. The San Francisco-based firm intends to fund all costs to connect the facility to the grid, including any required PG&E substation upgrades, and also plans to fund a second, independently routed transmission line to improve reliability and cut reliance on backup generation. The California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E's principal regulator, must issue a final decision on the substation expansion.
Construction could begin in the first quarter of 2028 and would take 22 months to complete, with the data center potentially operational in 2030; off-site PG&E upgrades would also start in 2028. Prologis expects to enroll the project in San Jose's Total Clean Energy program, or a similar program, with a goal of 100% carbon-free electricity.
The proposal comes as PG&E's pipeline of proposed data center projects has grown sharply, totaling 12.71 gigawatts at the end of June, more than double the 5.09 gigawatts reported at the end of March. The Press Democrat notes that data centers have drawn opposition in some Bay Area cities and elsewhere over concerns about environmental impacts, electricity bills, and water use, even as the tech industry views the facilities as essential to supplying computing power for technologies like artificial intelligence.