Governor Tina Kotek orders all state agencies to suspend easements, leases and sales of public land intended for data centers.
The directive signed by Tina Kotek on September 8 targets all agencies in the state of Oregon: easements, rights-of-way, leases, leases, land use permits, sales and transfers of public property are suspended if they concern a data center project that has not yet been approved. The freeze runs until July 1, 2027, or until the governor's office or the legislator decides otherwise.
The governor justifies the pause by an equation that has remained unanswered: the operators are asking the municipalities to absorb considerable needs in terms of water, energy, infrastructure and natural resources, without the State knowing what this means in concrete terms for its inhabitants. The period is to be used to assess reception capacity, environmental sustainability, water consumption and real job creation.
The measure extends an earlier decision to cancel the sale of about thirty hectares at the Mill Creek Corporate Center in Salem, intended for a data center. It is in addition to the POWER Act of 2025, which raised the price of electricity billed to Portland General Electric's data centers by 29% while lowering that of other subscribers. The day before the directive, about a hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the State Capitol called for a three-year moratorium, much broader than what the executive finally chose.
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