Gov. Tina Kotek ordered every Oregon state agency to stop processing data center projects on state-owned land, an escalation that follows Beaverton's own push to block the facilities.
The directive, issued Tuesday, Sept. 8, halts all unapproved easements, leases, land-use permits and property sales tied to data centers.
It stays in effect through July 1, 2027, or until the governor or Legislature acts.
Kotek said in a statement that data center corporations are asking communities to absorb enormous demands on water, energy, infrastructure and natural resources, according to KGW.
Her office called the pause "essential" to evaluate impacts on surrounding communities.
Kotek lacks the authority to impose a statewide moratorium on all data center construction. Her directive covers only state-owned property. But OPB reported Tuesday that Kotek now supports a broader legislative moratorium, a shift from her earlier stance.
Beaverton's role in the debate
The governor's action lands in a community already engaged on the issue.
Beaverton City Council adopted a resolution signaling support for a data center ban, though it stopped short of a formal moratorium because officials said a large data hub was unlikely to be built within city limits, The Oregonian reported.
State Rep. Farrah Chaichi, D-Beaverton, is one of four Democratic lawmakers planning to introduce a three-year moratorium on new large data centers when the 2027 legislative session opens in January.
State Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, State Sen. Courtney Neron Misslin, D-Wilsonville, and State Rep. Lesly Muñoz, D-Woodburn, are co-sponsoring the proposal, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported Aug. 4.
Washington County opts out
Washington County's Board of Commissioners took a different path.
At a Sept. 1 work session, the board declined to pursue a formal moratorium, with county staff finding only eight parcels that met industrial classification criteria in unincorporated areas.
All were already developed. All but three were smaller than 40 acres.
"I'm not willing to invest staff time to look at putting a moratorium on something that has a very, very, very remote possibility of ever occurring," Commissioner Jerry Willey said at the Sept. 1 meeting, according to The Oregonian.
The board agreed instead to draft a resolution acknowledging public concerns.
Earlier state actions
Kotek's Sept. 8 directive builds on steps she took over the summer. In July, she canceled a state land sale for a proposed $5 billion data center project on roughly 32 acres at Salem's Mill Creek Corporate Center, according to KOIN.
Oregon's POWER Act, signed by Kotek in 2025, created a new energy rate class for data centers and other users consuming more than 20 megawatts.
The law has already produced a 29% increase in electricity rates for data centers and rate decreases for other Portland General Electric ratepayers, according to the governor's office. In March, the Legislature paused Enterprise Zone tax incentive agreements for data centers for one year.
What's next
The Beaverton Valley Times reported that Kotek's data center advisory committee is due to release a draft report by mid-September, with a final public meeting set for Sept. 23 and a final report expected in October.
The committee will not recommend a moratorium. The 2027 legislative session opens in January, with Chaichi's moratorium bill among the proposals on the table.
