Spokane County will consider temporary moratorium on data centers
Spokane County commissioners have proposed a nine-month temporary moratorium on data centers to study their impact. This follows a similar moratorium passed by the City of Spokane and comes after Evista paused negotiations for a large data center project in the county.
Spokane County Commissioners Amber Waldref and Chris Jordan have put forward a proposal for a nine-month temporary moratorium on data centers within Spokane County. The commissioners seek this pause to thoroughly investigate and understand the potential impacts of data center development on the region.
This proposal emerged after Evista, an energy company, halted negotiations earlier this summer regarding a prospective 500-megawatt data center project in the county. Following this, Evista advocated for a collaborative planning initiative involving regional governmental bodies.
Further preceding the county's discussion, the City of Spokane enacted its own one-year moratorium on data center construction within its municipal boundaries last month. The Spokane County Board is scheduled to consider the commissioners' proposal at an upcoming meeting.