PRESS RELEASE
PROP 45 FUNDERS PROLOGIS AND PG&E PLAN 8+ DATA CENTERS IN SAN JOSE. 45 WOULD FAST TRACK THEM.
Prop 45 Would Override State’s Tough New Safeguards
SAN JOSE – One week before ballots are counted, the No on Prop 45 campaign is releasing new research on the extensive data center development plans that the measure’s funders have for San Jose.
Proposition 45 is the California Chamber of Commerce’s 41-page ballot initiative that would roll back state environmental protections and weaken the state’s defense against President Trump’s attack on state clean air, clean water and public health laws. Leading land use experts agree that Prop 45’s broadly-written broadband language would fast-track data centers. Data centers are also glaringly absent from a poll-tested list of projects like high-speed rail and jails that are excluded from the measure.
Data center developers and the utilities profiting off the data center boom have spent more than $10 million supporting Prop 45, including $3.05 million from PG&E and $500,000 from the data center and warehouse giant Prologis.
Meanwhile, PG&E and Prologis are working to develop at least eight major data centers in San Jose that could be fast-tracked by the measure. In total, there are at least 34 data center projects in the pipeline for the City of San Jose.
“The data center developers behind Prop 45 have San Jose in their sights,” said Valerie Ventre Hutton with 350 Bay Area Action. “Prologis and PG&E are spending millions on Prop 45 to roll out their own red carpet. Voters in San Jose and across should vote ‘No’ to maintain our voice in these projects and make sure we have the time to get them right.”
PG&E’s Data Center Plans for San Jose
PG&E is collaborating with Canadian mega-developer Westbank on at least three unusual mixed-use developments in and around downtown San Jose to incorporate data centers into housing towers.
PG&E is also deeply involved with San Jose’s data center build-out as a power provider, and stands to profit off of a potential explosion in data center-driven electricity demand in the city.
In late 2025, PG&E committed to a major new power delivery agreement with the city of San Jose (after the city threatened to explore forming a municipal utility to supplant them). As part of that agreement, PG&E promised to provide power to 12 “large-load” projects, two of which are now online and several of which–including the Westbank projects and “Equinix SV12”–are confirmed to be data centers. The Equinix center has 36 backup diesel generators and is not using recycled water because it was deemed “not feasible.” The Bay Area’s environmental rules on diesel generators are decades-old.
Prologis’s Data Center Plans for San Jose
Prologis has announced plans to develop at least four electricity- and water-intensive technology projects in San Jose, comprising as many as six new data centers:
STEM Park / Zanker Road campus: 4 data center buildings proposed, up to 99MW each, plus a separate “advanced manufacturing” component.
5977 Silver Creek Valley Road: 1 data center building proposed, up to 99MW. Project will also have 44 backup generators and an electrical substation.
325 Charcot Avenue: 1 data center building proposed, up to 99MW.
5853 Rue Ferrari Project (South San Jose 1): This project is currently classified by the City of San Jose as “not a data center,” the proposal is to convert an existing 300,000-square-foot warehouse to a R&D "facility" that would include generators alongside cooling and electrical infrastructure. Water and electricity impacts would be substantial This facility would use 26,360 gallons of water per day, per project review documents. NVIDIA is the tenant.
If passed by voters, the measure could undermine new community and environmental protections that were recently signed into law. In September, Governor Newsom signed seven bills that his administration called the most comprehensive data center laws in the nation. One of them makes data centers ineligible for blanket environmental exemptions and requires them to show they won't shift costs to ratepayers and puts in place air and water protections in exchange for a streamlined judicial review process.
Because Prop 45 supersedes conflicting laws, data center developers could take advantage of a faster court process without meeting those conditions.
“CalChamber and the data center developers they represent couldn’t stop strong data center safeguards in the legislature, so they’re spending big to override them at the ballot box,” said No on Prop 45 spokesperson Woody Little. “Electric rates are already sky high, and without strong safeguards, the data center boom threatens to send them to the stratosphere. We literally cannot afford to let them get away with it.”
The data center backlash has become one of the defining issues of the 2026 midterms. In November, voters in at least three dozen cities, counties and townships across the country will consider ballot measures that could ban or limit data centers in their communities.
A Fox News poll in July found 70% of voters oppose building data centers for the purpose of supporting AI in their area. California is following the national trend. Monterey Park became the first city in the country to permanently ban data centers. Coachella recently passed a permanent ban, and San Francisco, Oakland, Eureka, Gilroy, Richmond, Oakley and Palm Springs have adopted moratoriums. Pittsburg and San Diego are considering moratoriums this week.
If a majority of voters support Prop 45 this November, the law would be almost impossible to amend. Doing so would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or another statewide vote, and any legislative amendments must “further the purposes” of the measure.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office concluded implementing Prop 45 could cost state and local governments more than $100 million a year.
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