Photo Credit: Paloma Ayala
Regulating Data Centers at the Public Utility Commission
By: Audrey Leonard, Staff Attorney
Data center proliferation in the Northwest threatens the Columbia River and our climate by vastly increasing energy and water demand. If left unchecked, data centers could derail our region’s progress towards clean energy goals, salmon recovery, and clean water. Columbia Riverkeeper advocates for responsible data center regulation to prevent these harms before they become unmanageable.
Protecting Oregonians With Energy Responsibility (POWER) Act
In a major victory for energy affordability, the Oregon legislature passed the POWER Act (HB 3546) earlier this year. The POWER Act holds data centers accountable for paying their fair share of energy costs. Data centers require expensive energy infrastructure to come online—those costs should not be passed on to residential and small business ratepayers.
The POWER Act holds data centers accountable by directing the Oregon Public Utility Commission to protect families and small businesses from the high costs of bringing data centers online. This means putting guardrails on the amount of energy data centers use, and what types of infrastructure costs can be passed to households.
UM 2377: POWER Act Implementation
The Oregon Public Utility Commission will implement the POWER Act through a proceeding called “UM 2377.” This proceeding will establish guardrails for data centers in Portland General Electric (PGE) territory, Oregon’s largest electric utility.
This summer, Columbia Riverkeeper intervened in UM 2377 with a coalition of climate and energy advocates, represented by the Green Energy Institute. We have a unique opportunity to demonstrate the costs and risks associated with data centers—especially their climate and water impacts. This also means we have a seat at the table to advocate for responsible data center regulations that recognize the importance of meeting Oregon’s climate goals.
Energy & Water Consumption
In addition to using enormous amounts of energy, data centers require large amounts of water for cooling. Each year, a 100MW data center will consume 100 million gallons of water, enough for 2,500 people’s domestic use. Data centers’ water use—from groundwater to streams and rivers that feed municipal water supply—drains water supply in drought-prone areas and endangers fish and wildlife. Data centers produce wastewater laced with contaminants and pollutants not normally targeted for removal by wastewater treatment plants.
Unfortunately, data center systems that are more energy efficient require more water for cooling. In order to improve our understanding of data centers’ water use, and how it relates to energy consumption, we need accurate reporting. Data center operators have consistently resisted efforts to make this data available. Columbia Riverkeeper is asking the Public Utility Commission to require water use reporting from data centers, so we can begin to develop solutions to improve data center efficiency without harming the surrounding environment.
Parties in UM 2377 will present testimony to the Public Utility Commission through early December. The docket is open for public comment: weigh in on the importance of protecting our climate and water from data center proliferation.
Resources
UM 2377: POWER Act Implementation
Tell the Oregon Public Utility Commission: regulate data centers to protect the climate and water.