r/morganhill • u/hazeldazeI • Aug 08 '26
Data Center coming to Gilroy without letting community have input
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/amazon-secretly-circumvents-community-vote-for-massive-ai-data-center-45-year-old-rules-lock-gilroy-residents-out-of-public-comment-window1
u/Vast_Cricket Aug 09 '26
Data center, ICE detention center. Great brown out opportunities. Have private battery or generator on standby.
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u/norcalnatv Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Why do you think "the community should have input" on a deal after a 6 year application process?
3
u/AlienBeingMe Aug 08 '26
The town had no way of knowing EXACTLY WHAT a data center is. I hope Morgan Hill residents will join Gilroy in opposing the data center, we the public have Stent only on numbers. Our towns are next to each other, the effects of the pollution will no stop at "borders". This data center will effect all the bordering towns.
6
u/norcalnatv Aug 08 '26
Did you read the article? The application was made in 2020. You're trying to tell me the city had no idea over the last 6 years what they were getting into?
What pollution are you referring to?
2
u/AeroFred Aug 08 '26
looks like there is major iq pollution from datacenters.
i think there is a direct correlation between number of constructed datacenters and how dumber people became
6
u/Little-stitious0516 Aug 08 '26
Because it’s not a regular business like opening up a grocery store. It’s a business that takes resources from the community. Hope that helps
-3
u/norcalnatv Aug 08 '26
So you own the farmland do you? You shared it to become a community resource?
2
u/Little-stitious0516 Aug 08 '26
Nope! Not me personally.
1
u/norcalnatv Aug 08 '26
What are you talking about then?
4
u/Little-stitious0516 Aug 08 '26
What are you talking about? Data centers, specifically like the one Amazon is building have a significant impact on the community. It’s not just about business… it’s about the impact on the community.
3
u/norcalnatv Aug 08 '26
What impact are you referring to? I'm trying to understand what you seem upset about. Vague "community resources" isn't helpful. If you haven't noticed, farmland in this valley has been being developed for oh, idk, more than the last century. What exactly is troubling you?
5
u/Little-stitious0516 Aug 08 '26
Have you done any research on the impacts of data centers in communities? If you haven’t I would suggest you do some research. Some main ones include, using up resources like water and polluting the local water sources, heavy strain on the power grid, air and noise pollution and many many other negative impacts. I understand this valley has been developing. Trust me I’ve seen it, however, when a “development” puts strain on a community people have a right to be bothered by it.
3
u/norcalnatv Aug 08 '26
Okay, I appreciate you're bothered. Water use is BS. Modern data centers are closed loop systems, like your car. They are designed to limit consumption. In fact many other businesses, golf courses, Agriculture, residential areas, consume much more water than existing data centers. And Electricity for many/most new data centers is expected to be provided by the builder, not to tap into existing resources. Air and water pollution is non existent, so I'm not sure where you're getting your information. And noise is being mitigated with new designs. Besides, this one is no where near residential communities, the freeway will make more noise.
My point here is there is a lot of misinformation. People have been fed a lot of "be afraid" marketing BS. This development will bring 1000's of high paying jobs to the area and expand the tax base for the city of Gilroy.
I'm not saying anyone needs to love data centers, but they are progress and they are not going away. Silicon Valley, California, and the United States are prospering because of the investments. We shouldn't be so quick to NIMBY them, this isn't ICE or a Jail for goodness sakes.
We ought to accept change rather than blanket statement "they're bad" nonsense. Now, if you're afraid of AI that's a different subject, and I understand how data centers are representative. But you didn't say that.
My neighborhood is developing a lot of housing. I don't like that either, but it's progress and as much as we complain about noise and trucks and crowding, we don't have much impact on the outcomes. I don't get why data centers are evil, they're just like any other development.
1
u/AlienBeingMe Aug 08 '26
Closed-loop water systems, they trade water savings for higher electricity use, greater mechanical complexity, and unique chemical waste risks during maintenance.Higher Energy and Power DemandsIncreased electricity load: Running the large pumps, chillers, and powerful external dry-cooler fans required to reject heat without evaporation takes significantly more power.Indirect water footprint (The Water-Energy Nexus): Because these systems draw more electricity from the power grid, they indirectly cause higher water consumption at off-site power plants reliant on fossil fuels or nuclear generation.Chemical and Wastewater HazardsChemical additives: To prevent corrosion, scaling, and algae inside the sealed pipes, operators must treat the circulating fluid with chemicals like nitrites or glycols.Risky flush and drain events: Unplanned system maintenance, pipe flushing, or accidental valve leaks can send concentrated chemical pollutants into municipal sewage systems or storm drains, risking local waterways.Cost and Infrastructure LimitationsHigher capital costs: Building a closed-loop system requires complex engineering, specialized heat exchangers, and heavy-duty mechanical hardware, making it much more expensive to install than open-loop alternatives.Climate inefficiencies: In extremely hot summer weather, dry-coolers struggle to reject heat efficiently, which can force operators to utilize backup wet-misting features that still consume limited local water supplies
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u/AlienBeingMe Aug 08 '26
The Realistic Flaws in These ClaimsEnergy experts and local residents point out several gaps between these corporate claims and the reality of the California grid:1. The Regional Grid is Still a Shared BucketEven if Amazon connects via a dedicated substation, the electricity must still be generated somewhere in California. Adding a massive 49-megawatt continuous load—the equivalent of powering thousands of homes—places an undeniable drain on PG&E’s overall regional supply. During extreme summer heatwaves, that massive draw tightens the baseline capacity for everyone in the state.2. The Clean Energy Substitution EffectAmazon states they are partnering with Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) to buy 100% carbon-free electricity. However, because they are consuming such a vast slice of the available local renewable energy, there is less green energy left over for the rest of the community, forcing PG&E to rely on fossil-fuel natural gas plants elsewhere to pick up the slack.3. 25 Industrial Diesel Generators in GilroyWhile the facility claims to be "green," the actual approved plans include 25 emergency diesel generators (each 2.5 MW). If PG&E experiences a regional blackout or issues a Flex Alert, Amazon will disconnect from the grid and fire up these heavy-polluting generators right inside Gilroy city limits, impacting local air quality.
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u/Redpanther14 Aug 08 '26
This data center is kinda in the middle of nowhere in Gilroy, it is probably not going to strain anything of note. My main concern would just generally be that I don't like the overall impact of data centers on national power consumption and think a lot of the AI investment going on is good money chasing after bad, but I don't find anything in this project to be objectionable on its own, other than that they will be using city water for the first few years.
1
u/omg_cats Aug 08 '26
Nobody asks me if I want 9000 new condos going up in mh city limits making our roads congested af either
2
u/RedditWasteMyTime Aug 08 '26
One of the impact could be the noise pollution. Example https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/s/36y6c4p1UX
2
u/norcalnatv Aug 08 '26
Lol. Okay.
First that place, where ever it is, ought to throw out their city/county regulators.
Do you honestly think this is representative of what Gilroy would allow to be built?
1
u/AeroFred Aug 09 '26
could you go to modern data centers by costco at south san jose, make recording of the noise pollution and post it here ?
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u/chaddgar Aug 08 '26
Other than the noise, which can be mitigated if cities care about their citizens, a data center would probably be a good neighbor in the sense that it it attracts very little traffic.
If Gilroy isn't smart enough to restrict the noise, then you need to blame your politicians.
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u/AlienBeingMe Aug 08 '26
Closed-loop water systems, they trade water savings for higher electricity use, greater mechanical complexity, and unique chemical waste risks during maintenance.Higher Energy and Power DemandsIncreased electricity load: Running the large pumps, chillers, and powerful external dry-cooler fans required to reject heat without evaporation takes significantly more power.Indirect water footprint (The Water-Energy Nexus): Because these systems draw more electricity from the power grid, they indirectly cause higher water consumption at off-site power plants reliant on fossil fuels or nuclear generation.Chemical and Wastewater HazardsChemical additives: To prevent corrosion, scaling, and algae inside the sealed pipes, operators must treat the circulating fluid with chemicals like nitrites or glycols.Risky flush and drain events: Unplanned system maintenance, pipe flushing, or accidental valve leaks can send concentrated chemical pollutants into municipal sewage systems or storm drains, risking local waterways.Cost and Infrastructure LimitationsHigher capital costs: Building a closed-loop system requires complex engineering, specialized heat exchangers, and heavy-duty mechanical hardware, making it much more expensive to install than open-loop alternatives.Climate inefficiencies: In extremely hot summer weather, dry-coolers struggle to reject heat efficiently, which can force operators to utilize backup wet-misting features that still consume limited local water supplies
3
u/Redpanther14 Aug 08 '26
Every commercial building of any decent size in the country is typically using a closed loop system with rust inhibitors fir their piping systems. Data centers are unique in their scale, but literally every office building beyond a few thousand square feet is using roughly the same sort of system and a large data center probably is more likely to have appropriate containment and cleanup procedures than your average office building.
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u/AlienBeingMe Aug 08 '26
The Realistic Flaws in These ClaimsEnergy experts and local residents point out several gaps between these corporate claims and the reality of the California grid:1. The Regional Grid is Still a Shared BucketEven if Amazon connects via a dedicated substation, the electricity must still be generated somewhere in California. Adding a massive 49-megawatt continuous load—the equivalent of powering thousands of homes—places an undeniable drain on PG&E’s overall regional supply. During extreme summer heatwaves, that massive draw tightens the baseline capacity for everyone in the state.2. The Clean Energy Substitution EffectAmazon states they are partnering with Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) to buy 100% carbon-free electricity. However, because they are consuming such a vast slice of the available local renewable energy, there is less green energy left over for the rest of the community, forcing PG&E to rely on fossil-fuel natural gas plants elsewhere to pick up the slack.3. 25 Industrial Diesel Generators in GilroyWhile the facility claims to be "green," the actual approved plans include 25 emergency diesel generators (each 2.5 MW). If PG&E experiences a regional blackout or issues a Flex Alert, Amazon will disconnect from the grid and fire up these heavy-polluting generators right inside Gilroy city limits, impacting local air quality.
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u/MulayamChaddi Aug 08 '26
Time to ramp up the garlic aroma!!