A busy day for the Seattle City Council’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee will include debate on proposed legislation that would establish an official emergency and data center moratorium.
CHS reported here on Mayor Katie Wilson’s push for the one-year ban on new centers amid nationwide pushback on the industry over concerns about its impact on local utilities.
The ordinance being taken up by the council committee is a catch-all including adding “a new definition for data centers” to city code. The legislation would also establish a moratorium “on the filing, acceptance, processing, or approval of applications for the establishment or expansion of, or change of use to, data centers.”
The legislation includes the declaration of an emergency and would establish “an immediate effective date.”
City leaders are hoping to regulate “large-load” data centers — facilities requiring 10MW or more. The centerpiece of the plan is a proposed one-year moratorium on new or expanded facilities, a move being developed in partnership with the Seattle City Council to address “substantial public policy concern” regarding community health, economic resilience, and equity.”
Seattle City Light is currently finalizing a new policy intended to ensure that the massive infrastructure upgrades and extra energy purchasing required by the centers aren’t passed on to customers. Alongside Seattle Public Utilities, the department is surveying national best practices and expects to propose new rate structures and legislation within the next few months.
The strategy also looks toward Olympia. Wilson’s office says it will prioritize state legislation for the 2027 session that would mandate clean energy use, noise and air pollution standards, and sustainable water usage for the facilities.
The Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections has blessed the plan, recommending the council “pass a moratorium until such time as regulations can be adopted that address the potential public health, safety, and welfare impacts of data centers.”
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