Amazon employees ask Seattle to put the brakes on new data centers

The Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote on a proposed one-year moratorium on new data center developments, a move strongly supported by current and former Amazon employees, alongside dozens of other city residents. This initiative follows proposals for five large-scale data centers in Seattle by four unnamed companies, which would collectively demand an estimated 369 megawatts of power, significantly increasing the city's electricity consumption. Concerns raised during city council hearings centered on the environmental impact, particularly water and electricity usage, potential noise pollution, and the broader societal costs of the AI industry's rapid expansion.

Liesl Wigand, a senior software engineer at Amazon and a member of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, testified about the "all-costs-justified AI buildout" and its resource demands, advocating for the city to set stringent standards for data center development. Other speakers, including Patrick Schloesser and Darius Irani, both Amazon software engineers, called for requirements such as 100% additional renewable energy provision, public reporting of utility usage, and developer transparency regarding company structures. The proposed moratorium is accompanied by a resolution for further research into data centers' effects on city infrastructure, utility rates, water and land use, jobs, and public health, though some critics argue the measure doesn't go far enough to prevent immediate development.