Clackamas County commissioners will hear public testimony on a proposed temporary ban on new data centers at two hearings Oct. 21–22 in Oregon City.

As we reported Sept. 30, the hearings are set for Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. and Thursday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m. Both will take place in the Board Meeting Room on the fourth floor of the Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road. Residents can also participate online or submit written testimony to [email protected], according to the county's announcement.

As of July, no data centers operated in unincorporated Clackamas County. But the facilities, which house servers for cloud computing and artificial intelligence, have become a flashpoint across Oregon over their demand for energy, water and land.

County staff will present the legal criteria for establishing a moratorium at the hearings but will not propose specific code changes, the county said. If commissioners adopt a moratorium, testimony from the hearings could shape future regulations.

The hearings follow a July 7 board meeting where commissioners directed staff to study whether the county should attract data centers or limit where they could be built. At that meeting, staff noted that a data center could open in general industrial, light industrial and business park zones, though no company had submitted a proposal, Oregon City News Online reported.

Commissioner Paul Savas expressed caution at the July 7 meeting. "I really do want to keep close tabs on this to really understand the ups and downs," Savas said. "Passing on the cost to our ratepayers is really not a good tradeoff."

Commissioner Diana Helm, at the same meeting, argued the county should stay open to the economic benefits. Helm said the county is "stuck with a 3% property tax" as its revenue stream and should look for other sources.

County staff flagged water use at the July 7 meeting, citing a Greenfield report estimating that data centers use approximately 5 million gallons of water per day for cooling systems.

Other Oregon jurisdictions have moved faster. Hillsboro issued its own data center moratorium in July, and four other cities have begun similar processes, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Data centers now occupy more than 2,100 acres statewide, with communities planning for 9,000 more.

Gov. Tina Kotek on Sept. 8 ordered state agencies to halt unapproved leases and permits for data centers on state-owned land through July 1, 2027, according to the Wilsonville Spokesman. An independent DHM Research poll found two-thirds of Oregon voters support a moratorium on new data centers, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

The Oct. 21 evening hearing and Oct. 22 morning hearing give residents two chances to weigh in before commissioners decide whether to adopt the temporary ban.