Oregon Data Center News

Jun 23, 2026

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.

Jun 10, 2026

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).

Jun 9, 2026

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).

Jun 7, 2026

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.

Jun 3, 2026 · Google

Google’s water stewardship commitments for local communities

Google is announcing new water stewardship commitments to responsibly manage water at its data centers and to replenish more water than it consumes by 2030.

Main announcement: Google commits to replenish more water than it consumes at its sites by 2030, listing five specific commitments (replenishment ambition, infrastructure modernization, air-cooled solutions for at-risk watersheds, transparent annual reporting, and pursuing reclaimed water). In 2025 Google replenished more than 7 billion gallons, currently manages 165 water stewardship projects across 97 watersheds, and states that projects (once fully implemented) are expected to replenish more than 19 billion gallons annually by 2030. Google is also evaluating more than 700 projects submitted to its Water Replenishment RFI.
Background and implementation details: Google says it has committed over $500 million to water, wastewater and water reuse infrastructure to date and is announcing $17 million in support of new projects across seven U.S. states (Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas). Example partners/actions include Ducks Unlimited (wetlands enhancement, Flint River WMA), The Great Outdoors Foundation + Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (convert 5,000 acres to perennial systems), Huron River Watershed Council (expand green infrastructure), Trust for Public Land (restore 84 acres of floodplain forest), and local utility programs such as Metropolitan Utilities District’s leak detection; many projects are ongoing and repayment/implementation timelines target completion/increase in replenishment by 2030.

Jun 1, 2026 · Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Targeted Pressure: How Chinese Manufacturing Competition Impacts US States

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has published a report finding Chinese industrial policy is reshaping global manufacturing and harming industries across every U.S. state.

Main finding & method: The ITIF report (June 1, 2026) analyzes one “national power industry” per state using County Business Patterns employment data, HS/SITC export proxies, and global market-share series to conclude that state-backed Chinese subsidies, export pushes, and overcapacity are driving down prices and pressuring U.S. producers in sectors such as semiconductors, batteries, aircraft, and fabricated metals.
Key facts, numbers, and timelines:China plans ~$150 billion in semiconductor investment through 2030 vs. $52 billion under the U.S. CHIPS funding; the report cites $63.3 billion Chinese semiconductor spending in H1 2025, TSMC’s $165 billion U.S. investment announcement, GE Appliances’ $490 million Appliance Park investment (2025), and state/national export shares and HS-code trade series used throughout the analyses.

May 29, 2026

Innovations in Offshore Data Centers: Chinese Undersea Deployments, US Floating Platforms, and Future Prospects

China’s HiCloud has entered full commercial operation of an offshore wind-powered underwater data center with a stated 24 MW capacity off Shanghai (entered full operations in May 2026).

Commercial Shanghai UDC operating: HiCloud’s Lingang project reached full commercial operation in May 2026 after being launched in June 2025, completed in October 2025, and tested in February 2026; the site is reported to have 24 MW capacity, modules roughly 35 meters below the surface, a claimed PUE around 1.15, phased scaling from a 2.3 MW demo to 24 MW, and developer claims of 22.8% electricity reduction, eliminated water use, and >90% land-use reduction; reported participants include HiCloud, China Telecom, and LinkWise.
Additional verified actions and background: Panthalassa announced a $140 million Series B in May 2026 led by Peter Thiel to complete a pilot manufacturing facility near Portland, Oregon and accelerate deployment of its Ocean-3 wave-powered inference nodes; Microsoft’s Project Natick remains a key feasibility proof but Microsoft ended active subsea deployment in 2024; other entrants include Aikido Technologies’ AO60DC (15–18 MW turbine, ~10–12 MW compute per platform; Norway 100 kW PoC launching in 2026, UK commercial target 2028), the Yokohama floating demo launched March 25, 2026 (NYK, NTT Facilities, Eurus, MUFG), and a Mitsui/Hitachi/MOL MOU to study floating ship-conversion data centers with possible operations 2027 or later.

May 27, 2026

Tech Giants Are ‘Gobbling Up’ Grid Capacity, Consumers Are Getting the Bill

Democratic lawmakers and policy officials warned that ratepayers, not technology companies, are bearing the cost of energy infrastructure built to power data centers.

Main announcement: Democratic lawmakers and state officials (including West Virginia delegate Kayla Young and Sen. Ron Wyden) warned that ratepayers are shouldering costs for generation, transmission, and data center power infrastructure; Monitoring Analytics found $9.3 billion (70%) of increased electricity costs in the mid-Atlantic last year resulted from data center demand.
Background and details:Dominion Energy has proposed a 14% residential rate increase in Virginia for 2026 citing data center and AI-driven demand; West Virginia electric rates have risen 73% per kilowatt hour over the last 10 years. Rep. Paul Tonko introduced a House bill directing federal regulators to require data center developers to cover infrastructure costs rather than shifting them to residential and small business ratepayers.

May 27, 2026

US energy storage installations hit Q1 record, up 32% year over year: SEIA

SEIA reported record 9.7 GWh of battery energy storage installed in Q1 2026.

Main announcement: SEIA said the U.S. installed 9.7 GWh of battery energy storage in Q1 2026 (a 32% YoY increase), with commercial & industrial 648 MWh, utility-scale 1.5 GW / 7.8 GWh, and residential 515 MWh; Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (for SEIA) forecasts 613 GWh of U.S. storage deployment by 2030.
Background and details: SEIA and Benchmark highlighted data centers as a major driver (example: Meta + Enbridge will build 365 MW solar colocated with 200 MW / 1.6 GWh of Tesla batteries to support a Cheyenne, WY data center with 8-hour discharge capability); SEIA also flagged 101 GW of clean projects under political threat and said 36% of projects due by 2030 could be affected; 13 states have storage targets and cumulative deployment leaders include California 60.6 GWh, Texas 29.2 GWh, Arizona 20.2 GWh.

May 21, 2026

Google, Blackstone back AI infrastructure venture to support data center demand

Blackstone and Google announced a joint venture to create an AI-focused company offering compute-as-a-service using Google’s TPUs and Blackstone capital.

Main announcement: Blackstone and Google announced a joint venture; Blackstone is making an initial $5 billion equity capital investment, Google will provide TPUs, hardware, software and services, and Benjamin Treynor Sloss was named CEO; the venture expects 500 megawatts of data center capacity online by 2027.
Background and details: TheJV is positioned to give customers an option to run workloads on Google TPUs outside Google Cloud; Blackstone recently consolidated growth businesses into Blackstone N1 to focus on AI, and Blackstone’s AI portfolio includes OpenAI and Anthropic PBC; the announcement cites broader demand context from EIA and NEMA projections on rising commercial/data center electricity use.

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