Data centers in Oregon
One of Oregon’s smallest utilities is suddenly among the state’s biggest polluters. Why?
Oregon has emerged as one of the data center industry’s hottest markets, with the tech industry’s marquee names establishing a big footprint in small communities from Hermiston to Hillsboro. Lured by tax breaks worth nearly $200 million a year, data centers are providing a big economic boost to small communities. But they’re also straining Oregon’s power and water resources while providing relatively few jobs and upending the state’s fight against climate change.
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Google is falling short of an important climate target. Why? Data centers and AI
Artificial intelligence has increased demand on Google data centers, which require massive amounts of electricity.
Former Oregon officials will pay $2,000 each to settle ethics complaint over Amazon deals
Investigators say the officials sometimes failed to disclose they stood to benefit personally when they voted for huge tax breaks for Amazon data centers.
Amazon scraps plan to use fuel cells, powered by natural gas, to run Oregon data centers
Environmental watchdogs said the fuel cells would exacerbate the data centers' climate impact.
Google spinout lands in Oregon to suck carbon out of the air, fight climate change
280 Earth is trying out its technology next door to Google's data centers in The Dalles.
Amazon cutting hundreds of jobs in cloud computing business AWS
Amazon Web Services has offices in downtown Portland and enormous data centers in Morrow and Umatilla counties.
One of Oregon’s smallest utilities is suddenly among the state’s biggest polluters. Why? Amazon data centers
Amazon has 10 data centers in eastern Oregon, powered mostly by fossil fuels, and plans 10 more.
Amazon will start buying clean power for Oregon data centers
The company's Oregon data centers are a major contributor to regional carbon emissions.
North Plains’ plan to double in size thrusts tiny community into Oregon’s eternal land debate
The bedroom community wants homes and jobs but critics fear data centers and warehouses will replace farms and fields.
Oregon officials face ethics sanctions over Amazon data centers’ tax breaks and land deals
The three officials own a telecom company that provides fiber-optic service to Amazon. They're facing allegations they broke ethics laws by failing to disclose they could benefit from deals with the tech giant.
Small eastern Oregon city could be next hotspot for big data centers
As Hillsboro runs short of industrial land, data centers are looking at small towns like Forest Grove and Umatilla.
Artificial intelligence tech behind ChatGPT guzzles Iowa water, researchers say
To keep cool on hot days, data centers need to pump in water — often to a cooling tower outside its warehouse-sized buildings.
Northwest data centers’ electricity use could more than double, imperiling climate goals
Three separate forecasts this summer predict regional data centers will need far more power than previously anticipated.
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