As outcry over fast-expanding data centers spreads in Oregon, a committee tasked with helping the state revamp its approach to the contentious facilities is about to start collecting its thoughts.

Gov. Tina Kotek convened the Data Center Advisory Committee in January, and it has met eight times since. Meetings have focused on topics like water consumption, energy use and economic development opportunities brought by the data centers that give tech giants like Apple, Meta and Google their computing power.

On Tuesday, the seven-member group will begin reviewing that material.

The committee plans to release draft recommendations next month for how the state can responsibly harness the tax and job benefits of data centers without jeopardizing Oregon’s energy grid, raising power rates for everyday residents, or abandoning prudent land use and environmental protection policies.

Tuesday’s meeting “will be the first time the Committee meets to begin distilling what we have learned,” the group’s co-chair, Margaret Hoffman, said in an email. But it comes as public angst over data centers is leading to snap policy decisions in some Oregon cities.

Salem leaders have faced outrage over a California tech company’s plans to build a 75-acre data center in that city. The outcry grew loud enough last week that Kotek cancelled the planned sale of state-owned land for the project. The Salem City Council is now considering a moratorium on data centers.

Meanwhile, after playing host to the facilities for more than a decade, the epicenter of Oregon’s high-tech industry last week became the first city in Oregon to temporarily block new data centers. The Hillsboro City Council approved a 120-day moratorium, moving quickly after offering just 24 hours’ notice of the policy move.

The city is home to 35 data centers, according to the website Data Center Maps, and more are in development.

Worries over the facilities’ expanding footprint — combined with their ability to win lucrative property tax abatements — have led to outcry in Hillsboro. The issue has become politically potent enough to influence the outcome of Washington County legislative races.

It’s also a growing headache for Kotek, who, like politicians across the country, is grappling with an issue that has exploded in the national consciousness.

After announcing the creation of her data center advisory group in January, the governor signaled a preference to wait until the committee released recommendations to take regulatory action. That has proven difficult.

As she pushed a bill this February that expanded property tax breaks for companies that complete large projects, Kotek first refused calls by advocates to bar data centers from benefiting from the change. She eventually backed down, blocking data centers from receiving the breaks for a year. (Tech companies evaded the moratorium by applying for the benefits before it kicked in, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.)

Then last week, Kotek intervened in the planned Salem data center, prohibiting the state from selling land. It’s not clear whether that move will kill the entire project, which relies on more than the state land.

“This decision is about my responsibility to make sure state actions reflect Oregon’s values and serve the public interest,” Kotek said in a statement at the time. “I believe in growing Oregon’s economy and welcoming new investment, including in the technology sector. But growth has to make sense for the community, for our infrastructure, and for our natural resources. Oregonians have made it clear they expect thoughtful, responsible decisions about projects of this scale, and I agree.”

Oregon has a robust and growing collection of data centers, roughly 125 facilities largely clustered in the Portland metro area, the state’s eastern reaches of the Columbia River and the high desert of Central Oregon.

As she seeks reelection, Kotek has seemed to leave the possibility of muscular new regulations on the facilities. “Oregon needs to stop being a cheap date and making it too easy for them,” she said in early July.

Kotek’s rival in the November election, Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan, has been relatively muted on the issue of data centers, but has said the state should respect the wishes of cities about possible data centers within their boundaries.

What changes could look like will in part depend on the outcome of Kotek’s Data Center Advisory Committee, which is charged with having final recommendations by October. Before it does that, the committee will release a set of draft recommendations shortly after Labor Day, and accept public testimony before making them final.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/04/oregon-data-centers-advisory-committee-to-propose-statewide-regulations/