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Oregon Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across Oregon — updated daily.
Recent Oregon data center news
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White House plans new pledge to shield ratepayers from data center related bill hikes - report
The US government is expected to bring together data center firms and utility companies to announce a voluntary pledge aimed at preventing data center power demand from raising electricity costs for regular ratepayers.
- The pledge is expected to be announced at an event in the coming weeks; no company names were disclosed for the new pledge, though several major firms are expected to join.
- The story references earlier Ratepayer Protection Pledge signatories — Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI — and notes that states including Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia have adopted or proposed rules making large-load data centers pay for new infrastructure costs.
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NSF’s $20M Quantum Push: What It Could Mean for Future Data Centers
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced $20 million in additional funding for five quantum research teams as part of its National Quantum Virtual Laboratory program.
- NSF selected five additional teams to join the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory, with each team receiving $4 million over two years to refine development plans for fault-tolerant computing, quantum networking, and next-generation sensing.
- The program expands to nine design projects total, involves researchers across 20 US states and partners including NASA, NIST, Department of Energy national laboratories, and industry participants such as Nvidia, Honeywell, IonQ, and Quantinuum; it also supports the White House executive order on quantum innovation.
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Plans for 29MW data center in Bonner, Montana, dropped
Krambu’s proposed data center in Bonner, Missoula County, Montana has been withdrawn after the building owner pulled support, so the project will not move forward.
- Mike Heisey of Bonner Property Development, LLC said he withdrew his signature from the Krambu special exception application after hearing public concerns, and that the company will not be moving forward with the proposed data center at 9314 Bonner Mill Road.
- The project had been expected to reach 29MW at full build-out, with an initial 7MW phase, and it was being considered while Missoula County discussed a possible moratorium and updated zoning rules for data centers; a Change.org petition against the site had gathered more than 48,800 signatures.
- Krambu says it was founded in 2017 and offers Nvidia-based GPU hardware, Supermicro servers, colocation, cloud services, and up to 250kW rack densities via direct-to-chip liquid cooling.
- The company also lists other projects, including a 10MW site in Spokane, Washington, a 6MW site in Oregon, a 30MW greenfield project in Pennsylvania with Paradox Data, and future pipeline projects in Montana, Ohio, Illinois, and Alberta, Canada.
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Ares invests in Sabey Data Centers
Sabey Corporation and National Real Estate Advisors have announced that Ares Management Corporation’s Secondaries funds have made a minority equity investment in Sabey Data Center Properties (SDCP).
- No transaction terms were disclosed; Ares’ capital is intended to support future expansion across Sabey’s existing campuses and new opportunities in key data center markets.
- SDCP operates 251MW across about 4 million sq ft and could triple capacity by 2036 on existing landholdings, according to its owners; the announcement also notes Sabey sites in Quincy, Seattle, East Wenatchee, New York City, Austin, Umatilla, Indianapolis, and Ashburn.
- The announcement quotes Tim Mirick (SDCP president) and Jeffrey Kanne (National Real Estate Advisors president and CEO); Evercore and Citizens Capital Markets & Advisory advised SDCP on the transaction.
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New Jersey lawmakers pass bill to establish large load data center tariff
New Jersey lawmakers have passed a bill directing the state’s Board of Public Utilities to create a dedicated data center tariff for facilities of 50MW or more. The bill is now headed to Governor Mikie Sherrill for final approval.
- The bill applies to existing and new facilities, lowers the threshold from 100MW to 50MW, and aggregates sites under common ownership or on contiguous sites as one large data center.
- It requires projects to show they are not proposed elsewhere, provide financial guarantees covering at least 85% of requested service for 10 years, commit to demand response and flexibility programs, and be curtailed before residential customers during grid emergencies; it also prioritizes interconnection for data centers bringing clean generation or storage.
- The article also notes related actions in other states, including a new Oregon rate class, and laws or proposals in Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia.
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Climate Change Solutions - June 30, 2026
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) recaps Expo2026 panels and highlights recent policy developments.
- Main announcement: EESI summarizes the 29th annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum (Expo2026), providing links to full recorded panels on topics including permitting reform, energy affordability, data centers, and building and grid resilience; the newsletter links to EESI’s YouTube recordings and lists speakers and organizations for each session.
- Policy and event updates: The newsletter reports the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft Farm Bill (PDF link provided) and notes the House passed H.R.7567 in April; it also records recent congressional actions including passage of S.629 (Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act) through the House, passage of S.4822 (Saving the Ocean Observatories Initiative Act of 2026) in the Senate, reintroduction of S.4867 (Small Farm Conservation Act), and introduction of S.4870 to reauthorize Earth MRI; it lists upcoming EESI briefings on July 16, 2026 (Nitrogen pollution research roadmap) and July 24, 2026 (drought impacts).
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Oregon Moves Forward on BEAD Contracts, But Astound Backs Out
Astound Broadband has refused nearly $90.7 million in BEAD funding to serve 11,000 homes and businesses.
- Main action:Astound Broadband refused nearly $90.7 million in funding under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program that would have served ~11,000 homes and businesses in Oregon; the projects were mostly pure fiber builds with ~3,000 locations covered by combined fixed wireless and fiber projects.
- Context/details: The Oregon Broadband Office said it is moving forward with most preliminary awards under the BEAD program; this article reports the refusal as a specific change to the preliminary award set and includes links to reporting on America250 / Telecom150 and Broadband Breakfast.
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Behind-the-meter data center gas plants will raise US energy bills
Energy Innovation authors Jeffrey Rissman and Eric Gimon argue that data centers building on-site natural-gas power plants will raise energy prices for U.S. households and businesses and that policymakers should require data centers to supply their own clean on-site electricity.
- Main announcement/action: The authors call for a “bring your own clean energy” mandate so data centers do not rely on on-site natural-gas plants; they cite concrete capacity examples including a Richland Parish, LA facility using ~2.2 GW, a Cheyenne-area project with a 1.8 GW first phase designed to scale to 10 GW, and a BloombergNEF finding that ~100 GW of on-site gas capacity is planned for U.S. data centers. The piece urges that data centers instead deploy wind/solar + batteries and enhanced geothermal to provide firm, fuel-free power.
- Background and supporting details: The article documents that combined-cycle gas turbines are back-ordered 5–7 years, forcing use of inefficient turbines that increase pollution (citing an xAI Clean Air Act lawsuit), and describes policy tools to implement the proposal including “permit-by-rule”, pre-authorized renewable zones (Texas CREZ, Nevada Solar Energy Zones, Arizona Renewable Energy Incentive Districts), and mentions state laws that streamline permitting (Michigan HB 5120, Illinois HB 4412). It also gives examples of companies already using clean on-site supply (Google: 1.6 GW wind+solar with 300 MW battery; Amazon: 1.2 GW solar + equal battery storage).
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From Tail Risk to Design Baseline: How the Grid Is Adapting to Extreme Heat
POWER (Sonal Patel) reports that system planners and grid operators are now treating extreme heat as an assumed operating condition rather than a tail risk.
- Main announcement/action: POWER summarizes that system planners and reliability entities (notably NERC and FERC) and operators are treating extreme heat as a design baseline, citing metrics such as EIA projection of ~1,610 CDDs for 2026 (4% above 2025), NERC’s 2026 Summer Reliability Assessment (net internal demand up 1.3% to 790 GW, and >58 GW of new on-peak capacity including 16.4 GW solar, 14.7 GW batteries, 6.7 GW natural gas, 1.6 GW wind), and FERC’s forecast of $46.81/MWh average wholesale price for summer 2026. The piece catalogues operational changes (hourly ambient-adjusted transmission ratings, dynamic line ratings pilots, ADMS/DERMS deployments) and emergency interventions (DOE Section 202(c) orders covering roughly 4,400 MW of extended capacity service).
- Background and details: The article documents drought risks (FERC: 62% of continental U.S. impacted; Lake Powell inflow forecast at 13% of average), potential loss of up to 4,500 MW of Colorado River hydropower as soon as August 2026, rapid data center load growth (from 44 GW in 2025 to 55 GW in 2026, ~25%), and operational timelines (PJM implemented AAR on March 4, 2026; SPP expects AAR by Sept. 1, 2026; MISO full compliance by Q2 2028).
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George Tronsrue: America’s Arctic Blind Spot
Quintillion has built a U.S.-controlled High-Latitude Data Acquisition platform (HiLDA) in Utqiaġvik and its CEO is urging immediate federal investment and integration of Arctic ground-station capacity into national defense planning.
- Main action: Quintillion completed the world’s northernmost commercial satellite ground station on American soil, the High-Latitude Data Acquisition platform (HiLDA), in Utqiaġvik in 2021; the CEO calls for federal attention, investment, and integration into national defense planning now to create U.S. redundancy for polar-orbiting satellite communications.
- Background and details: The article documents nearly three decades of U.S. reliance on the Svalbard Satellite Station (Norway), cites the Pentagon on rising Russian and Chinese Arctic activity, and notes HiLDA links directly to major cloud and internet exchange hubs in Seattle and Portland, is supported by triple-redundant fiber connectivity and high-capacity, low latency satellite backhaul, and emphasizes Alaska’s nine military installations and missile defense dependence on instantaneous communications.