Seattle could ban big new data centers for one year 29%
By Joshua McNichols0%
5/12/2026, 5:49:50 PM
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Urban Development
BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Self-Serving Bias, Framing Effect, and Pessimism Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 14.7% saturation with 60 hits. Analysis detected 521 faulty-reasoning hits from 407 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 39.3% and a BS Rank of 29% (15,638 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 71.40% of the article peer group.
The explosion of AI means companies are gobbling up land for huge data centers across the country.
Now they are looking to Seattle.
But the City Council says, not so fast.
It’s considering a one-year ban.
Originally, four companies sought to build five massive data centers in Seattle.
Now it's down to two companies seeking three data centers.
The companies approached Seattle City Light to discuss power demands.
They’re concerned that data center power usage could end up costing Seattle residents on their electric bills.
RELATED: Data centers are expensive, unpopular — and could be a tipping point in the midterms
Councilmember Debra Juarez supports the idea.
She said at this time, Seattle’s just not ready.
“There’s no regulation," she explained.
"There’s no national standard, there’s no state standard, we don’t even have a definition for data center.”
Councilmember Eddie Lin is behind the proposed moratorium.
But he said a ban in Seattle is inferior to regional or statewide regulation.
He said if Seattle bans them, they might just go to Bellevue, which would not help electric bills.
“Because our electric rid is integrated, it’s regional, and because City Light has to buy power on the open market," he said.
"If we have mega-data centers in Bellevue, driving up demand, that could still affect our rates.”
RELATED: Big tech's next move is to put data centers in space.
Can it work?
But Councilmember Bob Kettle warned about "knee-jerk reactions" that could end up costing Seattle valuable tech jobs.
“We do not need to be adding any more instability to the business climate environment,” he said.
Kettle did not oppose a ban outright, but called for taking care when crafting rules.
A Data Center Coalition representative said that data center projects bring construction jobs and tax revenue to the communities that host them.
RELATED: Could Microsoft's off-grid data center project undermine climate goals?
Some companies, like Amazon, already have smaller data centers in their Seattle office buildings.
The extra heat Amazon's servers generate there heats another small building nearby during the winter.
Real estate agent Peter Nitze said any ban should allow smaller data centers like those to keep the tech industry strong.
He also described data centers as a smart way to fill empty office floors downtown.
The moratorium has been drafted.
Next it must work its way through the City Council before heading to the mayor.
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