Gov. Tina Kotek ordered Oregon regulators to stop issuing pollution permits for new or expanding data centers. The freeze halts development across Washington County's tech corridor until at least July 1, 2027.

Kotek sent the directive in a Friday, Oct. 9 letter to Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director Leah Feldon, as first reported by OPB. The letter was not publicly announced. Oregon Rural Action, an eastern Oregon environmental nonprofit, obtained and shared it.

The freeze covers four permit types: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Water Pollution Control Facility, Air Contaminant Discharge and Title V Air Quality permits. It also blocks cities and counties from renewing or modifying wastewater permits to serve data centers.

Without those permits, most large-scale data centers cannot build in Oregon on public or private land, according to OPB.

Washington County at the center

Washington County hosts one of Oregon's two largest concentrations of data centers, alongside the Boardman-Hermiston area in eastern Oregon. Hillsboro alone has more than 430 acres of data center space, with another 140 acres under construction or allocated, The Oregonian reported.

Those Hillsboro facilities received $84 million in local property tax breaks last year while employing 284 people. That works out to $296,000 in tax breaks per job per year, according to Washington County records cited by The Oregonian.

Statewide, data centers received nearly $500 million in property tax breaks this year, according to Oregonian reporting cited by the Beaverton Valley Times.

Industry pushback

Shannon Kellogg, vice president of public policy at Amazon Web Services, said in a statement to The Oregonian that the order "would eliminate thousands of construction jobs, hundreds of onsite operational jobs, halt billions of dollars in planned investment, and impact a key source of revenue for many Oregon communities and small businesses."

Local restrictions already underway

Kotek's statewide freeze arrives as Hillsboro pursues its own permanent restrictions. The Hillsboro City Council advanced a proposed ordinance on Oct. 6 that would limit new standalone data centers to 608 total acres in specific industrial zones. Current city code allows data centers as a primary use on roughly 6,600 acres, according to the Hillsboro News-Times. A final vote is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Hillsboro also remains under a separate temporary moratorium blocking new data center proposals until Nov. 24.

At the county level, Washington County Commissioners Nafisa Fai and Pam Treece asked the board chair to create a task force on data center policy, Cedar Mill News reported in September. No data centers currently operate in unincorporated Washington County.

What comes next

The permit freeze runs until the Oregon Legislature convenes in January 2027. Four Democratic lawmakers, including state Rep. Farrah Chaichi of Beaverton, plan to propose a three-year moratorium on new large data centers during that session, according to the Hillsboro News-Times.

Kotek's Data Center Advisory Committee has held seven meetings over nine months and issued a preliminary report in mid-September. Public comments on that report are due by 5 p.m. Oct. 24, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

An OPB-commissioned poll by DHM Research found nearly two-thirds of likely Oregon voters favor a temporary ban on data centers. More than 70% oppose a data center being built near their home.

The Hillsboro City Council's final vote on its permanent data center restrictions is set for Tuesday, Oct. 20.