On March 19, 2020, SV1, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Equinix, LLC, (Applicant)
submitted an application for a small powerplant exemption for the proposed Great Oaks
South Backup Generating Facility in San Jose, California (Application) to the California
Energy Commission (CEC). The Applicant proposes to install and operate two different
categories of generators: (1) three life-safety diesel-fired generators, each capable of
generating 0.50 megawatts (MW) and (2) 36 standby diesel generators, each with a
maximum peak rating of 3.25 MW (collectively, the Backup Generators).
The Backup Generators would have a collective nameplate capacity of over 99.0 MW
for redundancy but collectively would not be able to generate more than 99.0 MW as
discussed below in section (IV)(A) regarding generating capacity.
The Backup Generators would provide an uninterruptible power supply to the Great
Oaks South Data Center (Data Center) in the event of an interruption of the electrical supply that would be delivered to the Project by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and
supplied either by PG&E or by the community choice aggregator, San Jose Clean
Energy. The power generated by the Backup Generators could not be distributed off
the Project site and could only be used to support the maximum demand requirements
of the Data Center, which would be up to 99.0 MW.
The Application was submitted to the CEC pursuant to Public Resources Code section
25541. The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Act (Warren-Alquist Act) grants the CEC the exclusive jurisdiction to approve or deny
applications for the construction and operation of thermal powerplants that will generate
50 MW or more of electricity.9 Section 25541 creates an exemption to this exclusive
jurisdiction that is referred to as a Small Power Plant Exemption (SPPE).
