Oregon Data Center Intel

Recent Oregon data center news

• Feb 25, 2026

  Federal and State Policymakers Target AI Data Centers as Electricity Costs and Grid Reliability Concerns Mount

  The Trump administration is expected to call on major U.S. technology companies and data center developers to voluntarily commit to a compact to ensure power-needy data centers do not raise household electricity prices or undermine grid reliability.

  • Main announcement: The draft compact would ask participating companies to pay 100% of new power generation costs, fund transmission upgrades, enter long-term electricity contracts, use noncritical backup generation for grid stability, and allow curtailment of data center loads; the pact would also apply to leased/colocated capacity, meaning companies leasing space could not avoid commitments.
  • Background and additional details:More than 40 states have enacted or are considering data center laws; examples include Texas SB 6 (large load framework; 75 MW threshold; PUC may lower threshold and may order emergency load reductions), Oregon POWER Act / H.B. 3546 (requires large users of 20 MW+ to buy from state-regulated utilities for 10 years and pay for needed infrastructure), and the proposed federal GRID Act (would require new data centers with 20 MW+ demand to obtain power off-grid with a 10-year off-ramp). Troutman Pepper Locke is hosting a three-part webinar series on these dynamics in 2026 (dates/times not specified in the article).
• Feb 23, 2026

  Sam Altman’s Water Defense: Inside OpenAI’s Battle Over AI’s True Environmental Cost

  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly pushed back against claims that each ChatGPT query consumes roughly a bottle of water, while acknowledging AI’s substantial energy consumption.

  • Main announcement: Sam Altman denied the viral per-query water statistic, calling it “completely untrue”, but did acknowledge AI’s large energy use; OpenAI did not provide detailed, location- or cooling-method-specific water or energy data in his rebuttal.
  • Background and details: The article cites a UC Riverside study that estimated ~500 milliliters per query on average (and ~700,000 liters for training GPT-3), notes Microsoft’s commitment to spend more than $80 billion on AI-capable data centers in its current fiscal year, records Google’s pledge to operate on “24/7 carbon-free energy across all its data centers by 2030”, and references the IEA’s projection that data center electricity consumption could double by 2026; the Uptime Institute is cited saying average data center lifespans are 20–25 years.
• Jan 29, 2026

  The Data Center Surge Has a Hidden Source of Carbon Emissions

  Tech companies are becoming buyers of low-carbon concrete as US data center construction surges.

  • Main announcement: Major tech firms (notably Microsoft and Amazon) are securing low-carbon concrete supply and forming buyer coalitions to reduce embodied emissions in data center construction; Microsoft agreed to purchase up to 622,500 metric tons of cement from Sublime Systems over six to nine years, and Amazon has a deal with Brimstone and is using low-carbon concrete in data centers in Virginia and Oregon.
  • Background and details:RMI projects data center expansion through 2030 will require 2 million metric tons of cement (traditional concrete would emit 1.9 million metric tons CO2); the Sustainable Concrete Buyers Alliance was launched in September by RMI and the Center for Green Market Activation with members including Amazon, Meta, and Prologis; the Inflation Reduction Act had earmarked roughly $1.6 billion for green concrete support which was later pulled, and Sublime cited an $87 million government funding loss and paused its Holyoke factory (laid off 10% of staff).
• Jan 28, 2026

  The POWER Interview: A Path Forward for Geothermal Energy

  Rodatherm Energy Corp. completed an oversubscribed $38-million Series A funding round and is developing closed-loop AGS pilot projects in Beaver and Millard counties, Utah.

  • Main announcement: Rodatherm completed an $38-million Series A (September last year) and is piloting its closed-loop, refrigerant-based Advanced Geothermal System (AGS) in Beaver and Millard counties, Utah, seeking to validate efficiency versus traditional water-based systems.
  • Background/details: The company is Utah-based with operations in Calgary, Canada, claims its organic working fluid yields ~50% more power output than water-based systems, targets data centers and communities for baseload power, and lists investors including Evok Innovations, TDK Ventures, Toyota Ventures, TechEnergy Ventures, MCJ, Active Impact Investments, Renewal Funds, The Grantham Foundation, and Giga Investments.
• Jan 28, 2026

  Investment in next-generation geothermal is surging. Policies are key to further growth – EQ

  The IEA reports that investment in next-generation geothermal reached nearly USD 2.2 billion in 2025.

  • Main announcement: The IEA analysis shows next-generation geothermal financing reached nearly USD 2.2 billion in 2025 (up 80% YoY from USD 22 million in 2018); conventional geothermal funding hit nearly USD 5 billion and geothermal heating projects secured over USD 11.5 billion in 2025. The report highlights public grants ~9% of next-gen funding, and that debt financing now accounts for nearly 30% of sector finance.
  • Background and specifics: The analysis cites technology and industry examples: FORGE and collaborators (e.g., Fervo, which raised over USD 1 billion between 2022–2025) improved drilling rates (up to 30 m/h); corporate offtake examples include Google–NV Energy (115 MW Corsac PPA) and Meta’s 150 MW commitment from Sage starting 2027; electricity contract prices rose from USD 30–60/MWh typical of earlier guarantees to about USD 130/MWh in some recent deals.
• Jan 27, 2026

  Pumped hydro, high-temperature thermal storage, and geothermal LDES projects make key advancements across the US

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a 40-year license to Rye Development and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners for the 1,200MW Goldendale pumped hydroelectric Energy Storage Project in Washington, US.

  • Main announcement and project details: The FERC license grants a 40-year approval for the 1,200MW Goldendale pumped hydro project developed by Rye Development for fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CI V) on private land at a former aluminium smelter near Goldendale, Washington. The project is expected to have a 4–5 year construction period, an MOU requires union labour via agreements with the Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council and the Columbia Pacific Building & Construction Trades Council, and Rye Development projects over 3,000 family-wage jobs during construction and more than US$10 million each year to Klickitat County upon operation.

  • Other milestones and background: Electrified Thermal Solutions has commissioned a 20MWh Joule-Hive thermal battery at Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio, Texas) that stores heat up to 1,800°C, serves 1–5MW thermal loads and targets 2GW of thermal power capacity by 2030; Sage Geosystems closed US$97 million in Series B funding led by Ormat Technologies and Carbon Direct Capital to advance its first commercial Pressure Geothermal plant at an Ormat facility and its EarthStore solution (claims of unlocking over 130× more geothermal potential in the US).

    • Event: Energy Storage Summit USA — 24-25 March 2026, Dallas, TX
      • Agenda/subject: keynote speeches and panel discussions on FEOC challenges, power demand forecasting, and managing the BESS supply chain.
• Jan 26, 2026

  EPA moves toward changing particulate matter standard as manufacturers urge action

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to revisit and ask the court to vacate the Biden-era annual PM2.5 standard of nine micrograms per cubic meter.

  • Main action: The EPA filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court to vacate the March 2024 PM2.5 annual standard (lowered from 12 µg/m3 to 9 µg/m3). The agency said the Biden EPA took a “regulatory shortcut” and failed to adequately consider compliance costs; EPA urged vacatur before the initial nonattainment determinations due on Feb. 7 and states’ implementation plans due in April.
  • Background and details: Industry groups including NAM and 15 trade associations (e.g., SMA, Aluminum Association, American Cement Association) have pressed the Trump administration to revert the standard; EPA previously estimated the 2024 rule could prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, with monetized benefits of $22 billion to $46 billion and $590 million in estimated costs by 2032. A 2025 ACA report estimated 1 million metric tons of cement needed for AI data centers by 2028 and projects U.S. data centers rising from 5,426 to 6,000 by 2027.
• Jan 23, 2026

  Unplugged: Data Centers Embrace Onsite Power to Break Free from the Grid

  Bloom Energy has released a new data center power report announcing plans and survey findings.

  • Bloom Energy report:One-third of hyperscalers and colocation providers plan to bring power production entirely onsite by 2030; demand for onsite power rose 22% versus six months earlier based on a double-blind survey of 152 decision-makers (hyperscalers, colocation developers, utilities, GPU service providers). The report also states over 50% of new data center campuses are expected to exceed 500 MW by 2035 and identifies a power expectation gap where utilities estimate delivery times 1.5–2 years longer than developers anticipate.
  • Geography and alternatives: The report projects Texas could secure nearly 30% of the US data center market by 2028 and Georgia’s market share to grow by 75%, while established markets (California, Oregon) may decline by more than 50%; it cites fuel cells and behind-the-meter solutions as growing alternatives and references a Research and Markets projection of the fuel cell market reaching $28.4 billion by 2031.
• Jan 23, 2026

  Can PPAs Help Data Centers Navigate the Energy Crisis?

  The article analyses the potential expanded role of PPAs for data center operators navigating constrained grid power.

  • Main analysis: PPAs could be used to secure priority access to limited utility supply and speed up grid hookups for data center operators that sign them; the article positions this as an alternative or complement to behind-the-meter generation, and notes grid connections can take years.
  • Constraints & risks: Regulators and policymakers (for example, Oregon’s POWER Act) may restrict preferential access; PPAs cannot create physical generation where none exists, and there is demand-forecasting risk if operators overestimate future load.
• Jan 23, 2026

  Tax breaks vs. renewable energy offsets: Democrats plan to duel over conflicting Colorado data center bills

  The Colorado Legislature is considering two conflicting approaches to data center policy: an industry-backed tax-incentive bill (House Bill 1030) and a regulatory bill led by state Sen. Cathy Kipp that would require renewable energy offsets and infrastructure cost coverage.

  • House Bill 1030 (industry-backed): would create a nine-member oversight board, offer a 20-year sales and use tax exemption for qualifying data center equipment and systems in exchange for $250 million in infrastructure investments within the first five years, certification requirements (closed-loop cooling or similar, diesel generators meeting EPA standards), jobs paying at least 110% of the average local wage, breaking ground within two years, and the board may extend the tax break 10 more years if companies create 10 additional jobs.
  • Sen. Cathy Kipp’s bill (regulatory approach): would require data centers to match annual energy use with renewable energy (buy or generate), report annually on electricity and water use, pay for necessary grid connection and upgrades, and prohibit utilities from serving a facility if doing so would harm existing service or increase greenhouse gas emissions over the next 15 years; the bill contains placeholders for protections for employees and communities.