Washington County residents have until Oct. 24 to comment on a state report flagging major gaps in data center oversight.

Gov. Tina Kotek's Data Center Advisory Committee released the 20-page document Thursday, Sept. 10, after nine months and seven fact-finding meetings. The seven-member panel heard 127 expert presentations and fielded more than 700 written comments. Roughly 90% of those commenters opposed data centers, the Portland Tribune reported.

Utility affordability was the single most frequently cited concern. Most comments came from the Portland metro area, with relatively few from eastern Oregon counties where many facilities operate.

Why it matters here

Washington County has the second-highest concentration of data centers in Oregon, trailing only Umatilla and Morrow counties in eastern Oregon, according to Beaverton Valley Times coverage of the committee's Aug. 5 meeting. Existing facilities sit in cities, primarily Hillsboro. No data centers currently operate in unincorporated Washington County, according to Cedar Mill News.

County Commissioners Nafisa Fai and Pam Treece asked Chair Harrington on Sept. 1 to create a county-level data center task force, a separate effort from the state committee.

What the report found

The preliminary report stops short of specific policy recommendations. Instead, it reflects consensus around the need for stronger oversight and a centralized database tracking data centers' energy use, water consumption and tax breaks.

Committee co-chair Margaret Hoffmann, a member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and former energy policy adviser to Oregon governors, told the committee at its Aug. 5 meeting that "you can't manage what you can't measure," as the Beaverton Valley Times reported. She said a disclosure database with transparency and reporting requirements is essential to understanding what is happening before the state can decide where to go next.

The committee found that Oregon's surface and groundwater resources are already fully allocated. Seasonal irrigation demands mean data centers are becoming unwelcome competition for water already overcommitted in parts of the state.

Statewide, an ECOnorthwest analysis found Oregon now hosts between 123 and 144 data center facilities, up from eight 25 years ago. About 9,000 acres are proposed for new development. Of that, 6,500 acres would require Urban Growth Boundary expansions or changes in rural land-use designations.

Corporate secrecy compounds the problem. The widespread use of non-disclosure agreements means basic information about data center operations remains unavailable, the report found.

Tax breaks under scrutiny

In Morrow County, the assessor told the committee that the $7.2 billion estimated value of tax-exempt data center property in 2025 was $3 billion more than the combined value of all taxable property in the county. Tax experts who presented to the committee said Oregon is being overly generous and that the breaks are not necessary to keep data centers in the state.

What happens next

Gov. Kotek announced Sept. 8 a roughly one-year pause on data center approvals on state land, in effect through July 1, 2027. "This is what I can do right now under Oregon law, but we need to do more and the legislature needs to step up next year," Kotek said, according to KATU.

The committee expects to deliver final recommendations to the governor before the end of 2026, ahead of the 2027 legislative session.

Written comments on the preliminary report are open until 5 p.m. Oct. 24 through the committee's online comment form. A public listening session is scheduled for 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, via Zoom.