State House Passes Bill That Opponents Say Will ‘Kill’ Incentive for New Data Centers in WA

Despite stiff opposition from GOP legislators and community leaders, the WA State House has passed a bill that could significantly discourage data center development here.

  House Bill 2515 Targets Data Centers

The bill formally targets what House Democrats call "emerging large energy use facilities."

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The bill would add on extensive regulations to these large job-creating projects. According to WA House Republicans, the new restrictions called for include:

"...new utility tariffs or policies, extensive reporting on water and energy use, new labor mandates tied to behind-the-meter projects, and additional cost and compliance requirements that Republicans argue go well beyond protecting ratepayers."

Behind the Meter projects are generation and storage projects, such as battery farms, and solar.

  Data Centers have revitalized a number of rural Eastern and Central WA Communities

Quincy, Grant County, has seen a resurgance in their economy with multiple centers run by Microsoft, Yahoo and others. The've added between 900 and 1,000 long-term fulltime jobs to that area's economy.  Recent reports say over 1,000 electricians have been working on them across Central and Eastern WA, and overall over 23,000 people are employed in the data center industry.

Others are located in Moses Lake, Tri-Cities and Wenatchee as well as Spokane.

We've heard about the proposed centers in other areas of WA as well as Oregon. But opponents of the House bill say it would discourage businesses from locating such centers here. Much of the reason they come is because of an abundance of affordable power, electricity needed to run the plants.

GOP House Rep Mary Dye, the ranking Republican on the House Environment and Energy Committee had this to say about the bill:

"This is a job killer, and our communities deserve the opportunity to compete for these investments instead of watching them go to other states."

The bill, which passed 51-41, saw five Democrats cross the aisle and vote no along with Republicans. It now goes to the Senate for more debate and possible approval.