What was said about data centers in Oregon
76 statements from 51 speakers, grouped by who spoke. Each appears as said, with the date and the source. No verdict is attached.
From January 1, 2012 to September 28, 2026. Statements from every state are on Statements.
Data center companies 7
Developers, operators and builders of data centers and the technology companies that fill them, speaking through their staff and spokespeople. Every state.
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Amazon data centers in Eastern Oregon use outside air for cooling for 93% of the year, using water cooling for only 7% of the year
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Courtney Lee, senior manager for state and local policy, Amazon Web Services
Amazon representative said Amazon data center uses less water than local agriculture industry
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Courtney Lee, senior manager for state and local policy, Amazon Web Services
Amazon representative said company runs diesel generators about 12 hours per year for testing and maintenance
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Verrus hired a lobbyist, Drew Hagedorn, registered September 4, 2026, for data center development, energy and utilities, land use and permitting
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Verrus (implied leadership)
Nelson Abramson spent 20 years at Google including on its data center team, then ran infrastructure at X
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Meta spokesperson
Meta plans to rehire the majority of staff through a different firm as part of vendor partnership change
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Apple has committed to supporting 100 percent of its energy use in Prineville with renewable resources
Government 32
Officials in office, lawmakers, regulators, public agencies and courts, federal, state, tribal and local. Every state.
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Governor of Oregon
Democratic Governor Tina Kotek echoed Sanders' call for a data center moratorium in her reelection campaign.
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Wasco County Commissioner
Scott Hege believes decisions about data center development, including tax breaks and community investments, should be made locally rather than at the state level.
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Dan Atchison, Salem city attorney
The city could extend the moratorium by six months if approved.
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U.S. Representative
Val Hoyle, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. from Oregon's 4th Congressional District, co sponsored or voted for several bills to regulate AI and address data center impacts, including the Ratepayer Protection Act and Bernie Sanders' Ban Artificial Super Intelligence Act
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Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee
Committee consensus found need for more responsible oversight of data center industry and centralized information repository about Oregon data centers' type, water and energy use, and tax breaks.
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Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee held seven fact finding meetings over nine months and released preliminary learnings and questions report.
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Salem city officials
Town hall focused on hearing input on data center water usage, noise, job creation and electricity consumption
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unnamed Oregon city and county officials
Hillsboro pushing back against expansion and Clackamas County commissioners starting conversations about data center development
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Governor's Data Center Advisory Committee
The Data Center Advisory Committee fielded more than 700 written comments and nine hours of verbal comments since February, with roughly 90% expressing opposition to data centers
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Scott Derickson
Woodburn City Manager says water impact from data centers could exceed city's water supply capacity
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Chair, Morrow County Board of Commissioners
David Sykes, chair of the Morrow County Board of Commissioners, said decisions over data centers on private property are up to local government
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Oregon Governor's Office
State advisory committee is expected to deliver policy recommendations by the end of the year
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Tina Kotek, Oregon Governor
Governor supports a statewide moratorium on data centers while Oregon develops stronger protections
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Oregon Governor
Governor Kotek wants legislature to pass statewide data center moratorium in 2027 session
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Ron Wyden, U.S. Senator (D-OR)
Excise tax should offset data centers' rising energy demands and workforce disruption
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U.S. Senator (D-OR)
Sen. Ron Wyden, top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, proposes new federal excise tax on data center development
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President Trump said on Truth Social: 'The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor'
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Salem city planning staff
Verrus, the Google backed company, must resubmit application with noise study, separate application for each development site, and archaeological review
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Governor
Kotek has come out in support of local moratoriums on data centers in advance of statewide actions on the committee's recommendations
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Governor
Gov. Tina Kotek plans to introduce legislation on data centers in the 2027 legislative session
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Governor
The bill would incorporate recommendations from Kotek's Data Center Advisory Committee
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Margi Hoffmann, Data Center Advisory Committee co-chair
A statewide moratorium on data centers is unlikely to make the final bill
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Clackamas County Commissioner
Commissioner Diana Helm said a data center could come into the county and that officials are trying to put a pause on anything happening until they have done their research
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Clackamas County Commissioner
Commissioner Diana Helm stated her goal is to enact a countywide moratorium on data centers until state lawmakers address the matter in the 2027 legislative session
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Jason Beebe, Mayor
Prineville is home to both Facebook and Apple data centers with 15 year tax exemptions beginning to expire
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Casey Kaiser, assistant city manager
Meta and Apple funded nearly the entire aquifer system
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Casey Kaiser, assistant city manager
Data centers pay same water rates and system development charges as any other industrial developer
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Jason Beebe, Mayor
Regulations will likely aim to protect energy infrastructure and water supplies from being overburdened
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Oregon Governor
Kotek voted in 2012 to pass bill ensuring tech companies operating data centers in state enterprise zones are only taxed on value of physical assets under five to ten year property tax breaks
Chief executives 2
Chief executives, presidents, founders and chairs of companies, in technology, data centers, power and elsewhere. Every state.
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OpenAI CEO
Altman previously publicly pointed out that the space data center initiative is not realistic.
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OpenAI CEO
Sam Altman said Musk is selling 'short term' space data centers to investors.
Candidates and campaigns 9
People running for office, their campaigns and their parties. A candidate who does not hold the office is not an official. Every state.
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candidate for Oregon House 52nd District
Hank Sanders called for a statewide moratorium of unspecified time on data centers.
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Republican candidate, Oregon 4th Congressional District
Republican candidate Monique DeSpain said she promised not to accept money from the AI industry and stated communities must have the power to reject a data center if they determine it isn't right for them
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Republican candidate for Oregon House District 52
Scott Hege says transparency about Google's water consumption was a weakness in data center agreements.
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Republican candidate for Oregon House District 52
Scott Hege said he believes local communities should decide whether to accept data centers rather than state level rules.
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spokeswoman, Democratic Governors Association
Olivia Davis, spokeswoman for the Democratic Governors Association, said data centers are creating deep concerns around affordability and utility costs.
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Republican Party operative (unnamed)
A Republican Party operative said the most popular Republican position is that data centers could be acceptable as long as they pay for their own energy.
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Federico Araujo, communications director for Kotek's campaign
Governor Kotek is committed to making sure Oregonians see lower utility costs and protecting Oregon's clean air and water regarding data centers
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State Senator, Republican candidate for Governor
Drazan supports local communities declining to host data centers but opposes an arbitrary moratorium
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State Senator, Republican candidate for Governor
Christine Drazan said Oregon 'has done more than its fair share, and we cannot continue to be the Wild West for data center development'
Advocates and residents 8
Advocacy and community groups on every side, residents, neighbors and people speaking at public meetings. Every state.
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Utility advocates have described ratepayers facing winter bills over 600 dollars a month while data centers pay minimum demand charges covering only a fraction of their real usage
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Citizens' Utility Board called the Pacific Power agreement the strongest from a for profit electric utility yet under Oregon's POWER Act
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Columbia Riverkeeper has testified that roughly half of Oregon's data centers do not track their own water use
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local advocates
Amazon data centers have drawn criticism for water and energy use and environmental impacts
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Environmental Protection Network identified more than 30 federal actions increasing pollution related health risks, including narrowing environmental reviews, ending citizen led pollution lawsuits, and changing public participation requirements
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Food & Water Watch, Oregon Rural Action, Columbia Riverkeeper
Roughly 100 people demonstrated outside Oregon State Capitol calling for three year pause on data center development
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Salem community members
Verrus submitted Salem data center project on Friday to move ahead before Monday city council moratorium vote
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Salem community members
Verrus operated under nondisclosure agreement from March 2025 through July 10, 2026 before submitting Salem project
Researchers and analysts 2
Universities, research institutes, think tanks, pollsters, economists and consultants. Every state.
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co-director, Wesleyan Media Project
Michael Franz, co director of the Wesleyan Media Project, said data centers give both political parties talking points they want to use.
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Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, stated that since Oregon has no sales tax, it is property taxes that are the big dollars attracting data centers
Other voices 16
Journalists, lawyers, former officials, and speakers the source describes in words that name none of the groups above. Every state.
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retired Air Force colonel and JAG officer
Monique DeSpain, Republican challenger in Oregon's 4th Congressional District, argues communities must have power to reject data centers and calls for radical transparency in data center decisions
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Walter Mugdan, former EPA deputy regional administrator with 48 years of service, states people deserve a voice in decisions affecting where they live and what they breathe
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Dr. Lynn Goldman, former EPA assistant administrator
EPA is weakening or reconsidering safeguards designed to protect people from harmful pollution as AI expansion drives demand for electricity
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former EPA assistant administrator and pediatrician
Dr. Lynn Goldman, former EPA assistant administrator, states the massive AI buildout can have enormous consequences for America's health
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Jim Doherty, former Morrow County Commissioner, said opposition to data centers is a unifying moment between rural and urban Oregon
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OPB
Data centre moratorium debate is playing out across Oregon and the nation as campaign issue
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OPB
Many data centers across Oregon rely on diesel generators to provide backup power which could release massive amounts of diesel pollution into nearby communities
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OPB journalists
The AI boom has rapidly increased the demand for data center infrastructure
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OPB
Data centers could impact Oregon's aging power grid
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Flood Light News
Microsoft backed data center in Vineland was caught with 27 unpermitted gas fired generators, disclosed more energy use and more air pollution than promised to community
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The Oregonian/OregonLive
Oregon data center market is one of the largest in the world due to property tax incentives and lack of a sales tax, with data centers first appearing around 2006
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ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Schulze obtained exclusive access inside a Google data center
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former U.S. labor secretary
Chavez DeRemer says she will focus on investments in energy and data center infrastructure to support AI industry
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former U.S. labor secretary
Lori Chavez DeRemer accepted newly created role as senior adviser for labor and national infrastructure at Think Big to advocate for data center industry
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SEDCOR director Erik Andersson cited Verrus's more sustainable approach as reason for selection
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Milestone Technologies executive
Layoffs due to end of contract with client at Prineville location
The group comes from the words the source gives for the speaker; how the groups are read. Every statement on the record is in CSV and JSON, with its group and its state.
