The rapid expansion of data centers across Oregon and Washington is pushing utilities in the Pacific Northwest to consume significantly more natural gas — and in some cases coal-powered electricity — as electricity demand outpaces the region’s renewable energy supply, according to recent utility and state energy agency findings.
Why It Matters
Oregon and Washington have each enacted ambitious emissions reduction targets, but the surge in data center construction is placing those goals in jeopardy. The pressure is also being felt in neighboring Idaho, where regional energy markets are interconnected and utilities source power across state lines. As demand climbs, the Trump administration has separately moved to support coal plant operations and mining jobs at the federal level, adding another variable to the region’s long-term energy planning.
Oregon’s executive order, issued in 2020 under then-Governor Kate Brown, set targets of reducing emissions 45% below 1990 levels by 2035 and 80% below those levels by 2050. State energy modeling as recently as 2023 suggested Oregon was on course to meet those benchmarks. That outlook has since changed.
What Happened
An October report from Oregon Department of Energy officials concluded the state will not reach its 2035 emissions goal until 2037 — a two-year delay attributed in part to the growth of data center energy demand and rollbacks at the federal level.
Much of the new infrastructure driving that demand is concentrated along Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge, where data center facilities have multiplied in recent years. Umatilla Electric Cooperative, one of the utilities serving that area, has seen its electrical load grow by more than 500% over the past decade — a figure that reflects both the scale of the tech buildout and the strain it places on local power providers.
To meet that demand, utilities have increasingly turned to “unspecified power” purchased on wholesale electricity markets. Washington State Department of Ecology data shows that unspecified power carries emissions roughly equivalent to natural gas generation. In Oregon, purchases of unspecified power by consumer-owned utilities have driven emissions higher since 2019.
Audrey Leonard of Columbia Riverkeeper described the situation plainly: “In the absence of enough renewable energy supply, we’re seeing utilities turn more to gas in this situation.”
By the Numbers
- 500%+ — load growth experienced by Umatilla Electric Cooperative over the past decade
- $60 billion — Amazon’s total investment in Oregon since 2010
- 65 million megawatt hours — the volume of coal and gas generation the region needs to replace with renewable sources to meet stated goals
- 6 — new gas turbines contracted by Puget Sound Energy at an undisclosed Washington location
- 2037 — revised year Oregon now projects it will meet its 2035 emissions reduction target
Zoom Out
The pattern extends beyond any single utility. Of more than 100 electric utilities operating in Oregon and Washington, just six — two private investor-owned utilities (PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric) and four public utility districts and cooperatives — have absorbed nearly all of the region’s new data center electrical load over the past decade. Five of those six are now purchasing substantially more unspecified power from wholesale markets than they were a decade ago.
Some utilities are also permitting data center operators to install on-site gas-powered generators as backup energy sources, while public utility districts in certain counties are approving gas-powered generation for the same purpose. Federal energy officials have separately cited data center demand as justification for keeping Washington’s largest coal-burning power plant operational.
Tech companies have made public commitments to cleaner energy. Amazon, which has invested more than $60 billion in Oregon since 2010, described itself through a spokesperson as “committed to being a responsible neighbor” in the state. Microsoft set a goal of achieving 100% renewable energy coverage globally by 2025. Whether those commitments can keep pace with actual consumption growth is an open question as utility data points in a different direction.
The pressures on energy infrastructure are compounding other strains on Northwest communities. In Idaho, a separate statewide survey found that housing affordability is a top concern for both renters and homeowners, an issue that data center construction booms can intensify through workforce migration and land costs.
What’s Next
Oregon and Washington regulators will face increasing pressure to reconcile climate mandates with the operational demands utilities say they cannot meet through renewables alone. State energy agencies in both states are expected to revisit emissions planning timelines, and utilities will continue negotiating the terms of new gas infrastructure approvals against the backdrop of state rules that generally prohibit new gas buildout. Whether the region can close the gap between stated climate goals and actual grid realities will likely depend on how quickly renewable capacity can scale — and how aggressively states choose to enforce their own targets.