Dirty Secrets: Data Centers Drive Demand for Gas in Oregon, Washington

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Photo credit: Paloma Ayala

New Report Links Data Centers with Push for New Gas

By: Audrey Leonard, Staff Attorney

The rapid proliferation of data centers is behind a new push for gas in the Pacific Northwest, encouraging plans for new power plants and the pipelines that fuel them. As power providers reckon with projections for new electricity demand, the fossil fuel industry sees a new opportunity. A region that was solidly moving away from reliance on gas is now a potential new market. 

Our new report, Dirty Secrets: Data Centers Drive Demand for Gas in Oregon, Washington, is a deep dive into the connection between data centers and proposals for new gas infrastructure that would lock in more fossil fuels for decades to come. 

Key Takeaways: 

  1. Washington and Oregon are experiencing unprecedented demand growth from data centers, concentrated along the Columbia River. There are more than 5 gigawatts (GW) worth of proposed new data centers in counties bordering the Columbia. Load growth of this magnitude exceeds what the region’s utilities are able to meet with current capacity.
  2. Data centers’ skyrocketing energy demand tips the region’s decarbonization challenge into crisis. Analysis shows that Washington and Oregon will need to increase generation from renewable sources like solar and wind by at least 65 million megawatt hours (MWh) to replace existing gas and coal generation, and power necessary vehicle electrification by 2050. Unrestrained data center expansion could add an additional 65 million MWh of demand on an even faster timeline.
  3. Gas companies and Pacific Northwest utilities plan to develop new methane gas-fired power generation—and the pipelines to fuel them—to meet data centers’ skyrocketing energy demand. Multiple proposals for on- and off-site generation are being considered in Washington while Williams, a major gas pipeline company, is pursuing two major expansion projects of the Northwest Pipeline to serve the growing data center hubs along the Columbia River.

Leaders in Washington and Oregon face a critical choice: maintain progress towards our climate targets, or capitulate to fossil fuel and Big Tech interests.

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PRESS RELEASE

New Report Links Data Centers with Push for New Gas

“Dirty Secrets” connects the dots between data center growth and new demand for gas power plants and pipelines in the Pacific Northwest

Media Contact:
Audrey Leonard, Staff Attorney
audrey@columbiariverkeeper.org
(541) 399-4775

June 1, 2026 (Hood River, Ore.) — Power-hungry data centers are devouring new renewables, accelerating demand growth, and threatening to tip the Pacific Northwest into an electricity crisis. A new report by Columbia Riverkeeper examines how unrestrained data center development in Washington and Oregon is catalyzing plans for a new wave of methane gas infrastructure projects that threaten our climate, air quality, and progress towards 100 percent clean energy.

The new report, Dirty Secrets: Data Centers Drive Demand for Gas in Oregon, Washington, outlines how the fossil fuel industry, regional utilities, and data center developers are pushing an expansion of gas-fired power plants and pipelines as the best, and in some cases, the only, solution to satisfy surging demand. Building new gas-fired power plants and pipelines not only threatens Washington and Oregon’s ability to meet decarbonization targets mandated by law, it risks locking in the region’s dependence on fossil generation for decades to come.

“After years of progress toward achieving our region’s climate goals, we’re suddenly a potential new market for the fossil fuel industry,” said Audrey Leonard, staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper. “Cloaked under a shroud of secrecy, Big Tech opened the window, and now the gas industry is poised to seize an opportunity to build.” 

The report looks at how unrestrained data center proliferation is exacerbating the region’s electricity crisis; the ways in which this expansion undermines Washington and Oregon’s climate goals; how gas companies and utilities are preparing to deploy methane gas to meet skyrocketing energy demands; and the role Big Tech plays in paving the way by resisting regulations.

Washington and Oregon have long been key locations for data center development. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google were among the companies that built data centers along the Columbia River in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Since then, the power-hungry industry has generally been met with support from local and state officials. Today, driven by technological breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, data center development is moving forward at a breakneck pace, placing stress on the region’s power planning. 

Utilities are increasingly turning to the open market to purchase electricity from elsewhere — much of which generated from fossil fuels. At the same time, data centers are increasingly turning directly to gas companies to develop on-site (“behind-the-meter”) power generation that can potentially bypass strict state regulations for utility-scale power.

This surge is happening while Washington and Oregon are struggling to meet aggressive decarbonization targets. In 2021, almost half of the emissions came from the vehicle transportation and electricity sectors. Reducing vehicle transportation emissions requires transitioning to electric vehicles, thereby increasing electricity consumption. Unrestrained data center expansion will also increase electricity consumption, which compounds the challenge of reducing emissions from the electricity sector.

As power providers in the Pacific Northwest reckon with projections for vast new electricity demand, the fossil fuel industry sees a new opportunity, emboldened by the Trump administration’s energy agenda and the promise of data centers’ insatiable energy needs. Some local and state decision-makers in Washington and Oregon are signaling a shift in favor of gas, despite state mandates to phase out fossil fuels. 

“We’re in a race against time,” noted Leonard. “We need strong regulations to protect communities, clean water, and our climate, but the data center industry has consistently and successfully fought back. Laws are not keeping pace. Our state leaders must act to uphold and strengthen climate laws to ensure that data centers do not undermine a clean energy transition.”

Resources:

About Columbia Riverkeeper: Columbia Riverkeeper is a nonprofit organization with over 25,000 members and supporters that works to protect the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it, from the headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. Learn more.