Photo credit: Paloma Ayala
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Campbell, Policy Director, 541-953-5475
New Report Highlights Data Center Impacts Along the Columbia
Report offers recommendations to curb harms from Big Tech’s energy, water use
Hood River, Ore. (February 26, 2026) — Data center expansion is rapidly transforming the Columbia River Basin. Today, Columbia Riverkeeper issued a new point-in-time report aggregating data from 12 counties along the river, in both Oregon and Washington, where data centers are operational or planned, along with a set of recommendations to address harms caused by data center overdevelopment.
“How much energy and water do data centers use, and from where? Answers should be readily available, and they are not. What’s Big Tech trying to hide?” asks Kelly Campbell, Policy Director. “The answer: data centers have wide-ranging impacts on water, salmon recovery, energy affordability, the climate, and much more. Our report is both informative and a call to action to rein in Big Tech’s data center expansion.”
Data center development is moving quickly. The new report, A Closer Look: Columbia River Data Centers, digs into what is known about data center proliferation along the river with a county-by-county snapshot as of February, 2026.
“While elected officials in both Oregon and Washington have attempted and in some cases passed legislation aimed at putting guardrails on data center expansion, and both governors have commissioned data center committees to advise them, it is clear that we need to do more to address the wide-ranging impacts of data centers on our communities, water, and climate,” added Campbell.
The report calls on elected officials and regulators to:
- Enact laws to require transparency about energy and water use at data centers.
- Protect limited water resources, including enacting laws that account for water availability and impacts to other water users and protect clean water.
- Ensure data centers cannot undermine state clean energy goals.
The report also recommends removing data center costs from residential utility bills, and avoiding general state permitting that sidesteps much-needed Tribal government and community engagement.
The full report is available for download here.