AWS Gilroy data center, Gilroy, California

Amazon Web Services' data center in Gilroy, under construction on a 56-acre site at 8050 Camino Arroyo in the northeast of the Santa Clara County city, is untouched by the temporary moratorium on new data centers the Gilroy City Council passed unanimously on September 14, 2026. The Gilroy data center was approved at staff level on July 3, 2025 as a site and architectural application for two single-story data center buildings and a security building totaling about 438,500 square feet, plus a substation and switchyard.

The first building, of about 218,000 square feet, needs a 49-MW connection to PG&E and would be backed by twenty-five 2.5-MW diesel generators; the second building would use battery or fuel cell backup instead of diesel. The city's environmental impact report found two significant and unavoidable impacts, and its comment period closed on September 26, 2024. The city says the first phase will use about 23 acre-feet of drinking water a year, under 1% of the city's use, falling to about 2 acre-feet once Amazon pays for a recycled water connection expected by 2030, and that the site will use evaporative cooling. The city expects about $40 million in new revenue over the first ten years and says it gave Amazon no tax abatements; Amazon is paying for a dedicated substation and must buy carbon-free power from Silicon Valley Clean Energy.

Residents objected that the project got through with no public input. Some alleged the land violated the state Subdivision Map Act before Amazon owned it, which city officials said they looked into and found no violation. In August 2026 the council began requiring community meetings and mailed notices for large commercial projects and Planning Commission review for any project needing an environmental impact report. "As this data center is getting constructed, we are looking to ensure that there is independent and public oversight to make sure that Amazon is keeping true on the promises they've made," said Britt Smith, founder of Gilroy Community Action, which is also working on a ballot initiative.

The 45-day moratorium bars the city from accepting or approving applications for new data centers while staff write zoning and operating standards on water use, electrical demand, noise and generator emissions. It halts a possible second Amazon data center at Highway 152 and Camino Arroyo, which is only at the pre-application stage. "Our residents have asked for a greater voice in decisions about major development in Gilroy, and we are listening," said Mayor Greg Bozzo.

The moratorium expires October 29, 2026 unless the Gilroy City Council extends it, which state law allows in stages up to two years, and residents are pushing for the full extension; the Community Development Department and Planning Commission will recommend the new standards.