Google has agreed to pay about $150 million up front for a PG&E transmission connection to a building it is putting up at 5079 Disk Drive in the Alviso area of North San Jose, the Mercury News reports. The building is part of Google's Meadow Point campus.
What the state is weighing
The CPUC's draft Resolution E-5455 covers a PG&E agreement with Google for a new 230-kilovolt connection serving a forecast 250 megawatts at full build. The draft notes that 250 megawatts is more than the average demand of all of Marin County in 2024 and about half of San Mateo County's. The draft calls the load a data center and would approve the deal with changes. Google would have to make an extra capital advance of $600,000 per megawatt, which the Mercury News calculates at $150 million.
The draft also limits how fast Google can get that money back. Annual refunds would be capped at the net revenue PG&E collects from Google each year. The CPUC says the standard method could repay a large customer quickly, before enough revenue comes in. The Mercury News points out that as customers are refunded, the related costs are added to PG&E's accounts and eventually recovered from ratepayers.
The project
According to the CPUC document, PG&E would build an onsite switching station and underground 230-kV lines to Google's own substation, with service expected in December 2028. PG&E's public cost estimate for the part Google builds is $64 million to $137 million. The Mercury News says construction has started at the site. San Jose planning documents describe up to three research-and-development buildings on Disk Drive near North First Street and Nortech Parkway, totaling about 482,800 square feet. The paper says the commission is expected to decide this year.