‘OPB Politics Now’: The Sudden Backlash to Data Centers in Oregon

Protestors Show Up with Guillotine at City Council Meeting, Scare Off Data Center Reps

Company representatives for a proposed data center left a city council meeting in Oregon after they discovered protestors had brought a guillotine.

‘OPB Politics Now’: The sudden backlash to data centers in Oregon

The nation remains captivated — or horrified, depending on your view — by the artificial intelligence technology boom. And that boom wouldn’t be possible without the major infrastructure that powers AI. On the latest episode of “OPB Politics Now,” Dirk VanderHart, Courtney Sherwood and Holly Bartholomew discuss data centers — two words everyone is hearing a lot these days. Oregon, like many places, is seeing a fast-growing backlash at these faci…

Will data centers be Oregon’s big political issue this fall?

A driver passes a Google data center campus in The Dalles, Oregon. (Photo by Jordan Gale/Oregon Capital Chronicle)In May, state Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, area lost her bid for reelection to the legislature, the first such incumbent loss since 2018. Multiple reasons contributed to Sollman’s loss to union-backed challenger Myrna Muñoz, but a pivotal and new factor was data centers. Those massive buildings, consuming vast amounts of electri…

Lawmakers propose moratorium on large data centers in Oregon

By ALEX BAUMHARDTOf the Oregon Capital Chronicle Four Oregon Democratic lawmakers and two hopefuls are calling for a three-year moratorium on new data centers in the state in response to growing public concern over energy and water demand, farmland loss, tax fairness and community benefits, and a general lack of transparency from the industry. State Sens. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, and Courtney Neron Misslin, D-Wilsonville, and state Reps. Lesly Mu…