The state has been complicit in the emissions growth. Amazon has taken advantage of enormous state and local tax breaks to subsidize a constellation of power-hungry data centers located around Hermiston and Boardman. It saved about $100 million in local property taxes alone. Local officials have promised a billion more to keep Amazon growing. The problem is compounded by the lack of transmission facilities in the area, making a transition to renewable power sources difficult. Climate activists say Oregon is far away from expanding its transmission facilities, which is ironic since it has abundant hydroelectric power generated by the Columbia River, and great potential for wind generation. The company has done little to invest in improving its access to clean energy.
Amazon has made a token effort (4%) to buy some of electricity needs from a neighboring wind farm in Gilliam County, but experts say what Amazon needs to do is lobby the statehouse for upgrades to the grid. Amazon mounted an intense lobbying campaign when the legislature considered making the data centers subject to the state's clean energy rules last year. The company killed the bill in committee. Amazon and its power company Umatilla Electric spent more than $500,000 on lobbying in 2021. That is a lot money in small-town Salem for a part time legislature.
Big tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook have also followed the subsidies. These all operate large data centers in Prineville, Hillsboro, and The Dalles. Bonneville Power Administration estimates that demand for power by data centers in the Northwest will double by 2041. Installing new upgraded transmission facilities requires planning and coordination among private companies and government, resulting in a process that takes decades according to a state legislator working on the problem. Transmission constraints will make it impossible for private Oregon utilities to transition off of fossil fuels by 2040.