SEATTLE — More than 37,000 letters supporting a moratorium on new data centers in Seattle have been sent to city council in about 30 hours. This comes as reports have pointed to the potential for five of those kinds of facilities to be developed in Seattle.
Last week, the Seattle Times reported four companies approached Seattle City Light about building five data centers.
This week, KIRO 7 news partner MyNorthwest reported one pulled out, so three companies are inquiring about four data centers.
Lauren Redfield, the co-chair of the eco-socialism working group at Seattle DSA already has concerns about the region’s electricity supply with more demand for electricity.
“We need more power in Seattle already,” Redfield said. “We’re maxed out in terms of our hydro power. So, where are we going to get clean, renewable energy from? That should be our number one priority, providing the right types of energy for the growing population for the people of Seattle, right? Not serving these corporate interests.”
Redfield has worked with communities in Walla Walla, Wenatchee, and others that have seen data centers be proposed or developed. Across the country, data centers have been blamed for rising electricity rates.
“The baseline of a moratorium on new data centers. We also want more scrutiny about how these proposals are brought forward, how we can expand this outside, because we also don’t want just these facilities to then just go outside of city limits while also still impacting our neighbors in the wider King County,” Redfield said.
KIRO 7 reached out to Seattle City Council members for reaction to the moratorium, but has not heard back as of this writing.
Seattle City Light only responded to KIRO 7’s inquiry, saying: “these proposals are in early stages and at this time no developers have committed to building these facilities and no applications have been filed. City Light continues our robust planning for all anticipated new load, whether it be data centers or electrification of vehicles and buildings, and population densification.”