San Jose leaders seek stricter standards for data centers

San Jose could put a stop on new data centers while leaders come up with what the mayor says will be the highest standards in the nation. The city has dozens of projects moving through the review process, but to make sure future projects adhere to stricter standards, Mayor Matt Mahan and several councilmembers want to enact an urgency ordinance to stop approvals temporarily. Mahan said they’re working on strict standards so the community doesn’t pay the price for progress. We will set the highest standards in the country in every area that the community has expressed concerns about, from labor standards requiring union labor to no subsidies to community benefits requiring that any company that wants to build here pays extra to bring down people s energy rates and invests in affordable housing and actually makes the community better off, he said. In addition to addressing energy costs, the goal is to enact clean energy requirements and labor standards so the local workforc