SPOKANE, Wash. — Three Spokane City Council members introduced an ordinance within the last few hours that would halt plans for building a new data center in Eastern Washington.
Council members Paul Dillon, Sarah Dixit and Kate Telis say communities have made their voices clear about the proposed project. Dixit wrote that “energy intensive data centers have been popping up across the country with disastrous consequences.”
The health of the Spokane River stands as one of the primary concerns about the data center. Residents worry the amount of water the data center would use could strain the water supply.
Avista said today that it cannot reveal where the data center will be built, the customer it’s working with or when that information will be announced. However, if the data center is built, it would consume as much electricity as half of Avista’s service area in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.
Katelyn Scott from the Spokane Riverkeeper organization expressed concerns about the strain that could affect energy infrastructure and ecosystems.
“We need to be able to understand, as a community, the cumulative impacts and whether or not it’s something we can accept as a community,” Scott said.
A community petition against the data center has gained momentum online, collecting more than 5,000 signatures since it was posted Sunday.
Spokane City Council member Paul Dillon plans to introduce an ordinance on Monday that would ban new data centers in Spokane for a year if passed. The data center could still be built elsewhere in Eastern Washington.
“This is an urgent issue. We’ve heard loud and clear from community that we need to act, they expect us to act,” Dillon said.
Scott says she hopes to see Dillon’s ordinance pass. Since it’s an emergency ordinance, it will need five votes from city council members.
