Umatilla Declares Emergency Over Oregon Data Center Permit Pause

Stockdale put the potential cost at more than $5 billion in private industrial development, $6 million in direct losses for the city, and up to $12 million in water infrastructure that data center companies would fund under community benefit agreements, the Capital Chronicle reported. OPB, citing city staff calculations, said Umatilla would lose more than $2.5 million in annual tax payments and contributions to the bond funding a new police station.

Oregon's Enterprise Zone program lets small governments give data center operators 15-year property tax breaks, OPB explained, but the companies still pay fees that fund city buildings and services. With construction paused, those payments stop. The Chronicle reported that the city had been counting on revenue from Sabey Data Centers and Amazon.

When Kotek asked for the pause this month, operators had several large projects moving through permitting, OPB reported. They include Amazon's planned data center on a 1,300-acre lot in Boardman and a Sabey Data Centers building on a 60-acre lot in Umatilla. An Amazon spokesperson said the pause "has broad implications for Oregon's economy" and that the directive came without meaningful stakeholder engagement.

Hermiston City Manager Mark Morgan told OPB the pause has cost residents about $550 million in anticipated local fee revenue and that Amazon cancelled plans for multiple new developments there. That is Morgan's estimate and account; Amazon's statement to OPB did not address the cancellations.

For power and capacity planning, the pause matters because the Lower Umatilla Basin along the Columbia River already hosts more than a dozen large campuses, most of them Amazon's, per OPB. New or expanded sites there now cannot get the permits that precede construction before mid-2027 at the earliest.

Kotek's Position and the Split Among Oregon Cities

Kotek's office said the pause reflects that Oregonians expect "thoughtful, responsible decisions" on data center development. DEQ told the Chronicle it has paused all data center permitting work and that the directive gives the governor time to weigh recommendations from a Data Center Advisory Committee. Kotek is expected to propose reforms in the 2027 legislative session, which starts in late January.

Local governments are divided. Voltgrid News reported earlier on Memphis's data center moratorium. Hillsboro's council unanimously approved permanent rules on Tuesday that would cap data center development at just over 600 acres citywide, against about 570 acres in use today, leaving roughly 30 acres for new sites, OPB reported.

What Is Still Unconfirmed

Whether the emergency declaration has any legal force against a governor's directive is untested: Mayor Caden Sipe asked whether any precedent exists and the answer from staff was no, the Chronicle reported. Stockdale said the alternative of going around DEQ to the US Environmental Protection Agency would be "highly unusual." No lawsuit has been filed, and the dollar figures are the city's own projections.