'It's not built yet': Yakama Nation fights $3.3B energy project and data center development on sacred site
The Yakama Nation and its allies are actively fighting a $3.3 billion renewable energy project in Goldendale, Washington, on a sacred site along the Columbia River. New information reveals the energy project, which was approved by the Trump administration, is intended to power a massive hyperscale data center campus planned by STACK Infrastructure and Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure. Washington’s Ecology Department is currently reviewing cleanup documents related to the proposed data center.
The Yakama Nation has been engaged in a nearly decade-long struggle against a $3.3 billion energy project on a sacred site along the Columbia River in Goldendale, Washington. Originally approved by the Trump administration, new details reveal the project's primary purpose is to supply power to a hyperscale data center campus planned for the same location.
Elaine Harvey, a conservation scientist and member of the Yakama’s Ḱamíłpa Band, criticized the focus on powering data centers, stating it places undue pressure on sacred areas and traditional food gathering sites. The conflict highlights a recurring issue in the Pacific Northwest where energy infrastructure development impacts Native nations' ancestral lands, while simultaneously addressing the skyrocketing energy demand from data centers powering AI.
Rye Development is spearheading the Goldendale Energy Storage Project, which would convert the sacred Pushpum site into a hydropower battery, producing electricity by dropping 2.3 billion gallons of water through turbines. However, government documents and statements from landowner Scott Tillman indicate the power is intended for a proposed 1GW+ hyperscale data center, which Tillman is developing with STACK Infrastructure and Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure.
While Rye Development and its financial backer, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, declined to comment specifically on the data center link, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Ecology confirmed that cleanup documents related to the data center project have been submitted and are under review. Hundreds of people recently joined Yakama Nation and Columbia RiverKeeper at the site to protest the development on the culturally significant shrub-steppe grassland.