Mike Rogoway of The Oregonian discusses AI data centers, their impact, and what comes next.

Mike Rogoway, a reporter for The Oregonian covering the intersection of community and technology, has seen his beat shift to focus on the significant impact of AI data centers across Oregon. His reporting highlights an increasing outcry from residents over tax breaks for tech giants and a growing demand for accountability regarding the effects of these facilities on local life. Rogoway notes the challenge of obtaining information from corporations and local governments, sometimes necessitating litigation.

The article emphasizes a persistent power imbalance between data center companies and the often-rural communities they inhabit. While data centers have offered some economic benefits to small towns, Rogoway argues that tech companies are often the primary beneficiaries of these arrangements. Concerns are escalating about the rapid scale of these installations and their profound effects on power grids, water resources, tax revenue, and the physical landscape of various Oregon communities.

Rogoway recounted a specific incident in 2022 where the city of The Dalles filed a reverse public records lawsuit against him and The Oregonian to prevent disclosure of Google's local water usage data. After a year-long dispute, a district attorney's ruling in favor of The Oregonian and Google's eventual decision to back down led to the company disclosing its water consumption in The Dalles and other operational locations. At the time, Google was using a third of the city's water, a figure that has since risen to 40 percent with planned expansions.

Community frustration is also growing, with discussions in places like Hillsboro, Oregon, about implementing pauses or moratoriums on new data center developments due to concerns over tax breaks and resource strain. Rogoway points to a reckoning with the unexpected speed and scale of the industry's growth, leading communities to question the long-term economic and environmental legacy of these facilities, drawing parallels to the abandoned industrial sites of Oregon's past.