How leaders respond to data centers’ surging power demand could shape the region’s energy future.
by Martina Pansze
A new report from nonpartisan regional research group Sightline Institute complicates a growing narrative of data center demand for power undermining the region’s climate goals.
Sightline’s analysis finds that data centers’ climate impact in Oregon and Washington has been modest to date, not yet enough to reverse the states’ forward march toward carbon-free electricity. Further, protections in the two states’ laws shield the region from many, though not all, of the noxious outcomes data center corporations are causing throughout the United States. Rather than risk pushing data centers to states with weaker environmental protections and dirtier power grids, the report urges Northwest leaders to leverage data facilities’ demand for power — and tech companies’ deep pockets — to accelerate the broader economy’s transition to clean energy.
Low taxes and cheap power attract data centers to the Northwest. Data centers have dotted the Northwest for decades. For example, the Westin Building Exchange, a data center in downtown Seattle, began leasing its server space to tech companies in 2001. In 2006, Google opened its first data center in The Dalles, Oregon. Today, Oregon and Washington each host roughly 100 data centers, ranking them among the top 10 U.S. states by number of data facilities.
Oregon, however, dominates the data center market in the Northwest, and in the United States as a whole. By the end of 2024, only Virginia, the world’s largest data center market, hosted more data center capacity than Oregon.
Key Takeaways:
Data centers consume 11 percent of Oregon’s electricity and 6 percent of Washington’s; most analysts expect those numbers to rise quickly over the next several years. (Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, among others, all have data centers in the region.) Data centers have contributed to Oregon’s overall power demand rising 23 percent over the past decade, while Washington’s electricity consumption has dropped 4 percent over the same period.
Emissions from electricity production in both Oregon and Washington have dropped in the past decade, though likely more slowly than they would have absent data centers. Most of the emissions’ impact from data centers is concentrated at just six of the Northwest’s 100-plus utilities.
The Northwest’s policy safeguards prevent climate backsliding. For instance, most regional hydropower is protected for non-data center customers, and utilities cannot build new gas or coal fired power plants to serve data centers in either state.
Still, if data centers’ usage projections materialize, utilities could delay shutting down one or more of the 17 gas plants in the area or burn more coal and gas in neighboring states with weaker environmental protections.
Northwest policymakers can leverage tech companies’ energy appetite, strategic business interests, corporate climate commitments, and deep pockets to accelerate the broader economy’s transition to abundant clean energy, including by building out the electric grid and facilitating tech investment in clean energy resources.
“Data centers are already here,” said Emily Moore, director of Sightline Institute’s Climate and Energy program and lead author of the report. “With the right policies, leaders can harness data centers’ demand for power to realize our region’s bigger picture vision: a clean electrified economy and a safe healthy climate for future generations.”
See the article here:
https://www.sightline.org/2025/05/14/northwest-data-centers-a-climate-test-and-potentialopportunity/
Full Report by Emily Moore: “A Climate Hawk’s Guide to Northwest Data Centers,”
May 2025: https://www.sightline.org/2025/05/14/northwest-data-centers-aclimate-test-and-potentialopportunity/
Contact: Emily Moore,
Climate + Energy Program Director, Sightline Institute,
emily@sightline.org
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Martina Pansze is the press and social media manager, connecting Sightline Institute’s work with the people who live in Cascadia.
