By Data Center Infrastructure News & Events · Tuesday, September 29, 2026 · 4 min read

Oregon's POWER Act Pushes Data Center Rates Up 29% as Kotek Backs Statewide Moratorium

Original illustration created for Data Center Infrastructure News & Events.

The rate split, dated

The OPUC report covers 858,000 residential customers in PGE territory, per the Oregon.gov release dated September 2, 2026. The July 7 order applied the 29.7% increase to cryptocurrency miners and other large industrial users as well as data centers, according to the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board. That order also stipulates that new data centers can only connect to the grid if there is sufficient emissions-free electricity available to serve them, per CUB's account of the ruling.

The legal basis is House Bill 3546, the 2025 POWER Act.

The Salem land sale that didn't survive a council meeting

Before either utility agreement closed, Kotek had already killed one project outright. On July 30, 2026, KGW-TV reported that the governor ordered the Department of Administrative Services to terminate a contract to sell 32 acres at the Mill Creek Corporate Center in Salem, land intended for a $5 billion data center proposed by California-based developer Verrus. The cancellation followed a July 27 Salem City Council meeting where neighbors raised environmental and resource-consumption objections. No replacement site or developer has been reported since.

A statewide pause, then a moratorium endorsement

Kotek escalated on September 8, 2026, directing every state agency to immediately pause unapproved requests for easements, rights-of-way, leases and land sales tied to data center projects on state-owned property, effective through July 1, 2027, according to the governor's office. Chief of staff Emerald Bogue's letter to agency heads, reported by Willamette Week the same day, required a status report on all pending land transfer discussions by September 14, 2026.

Kotek used the moment to go further than the land pause. Appearing at an anti-data center rally outside the State Capitol, she told the crowd, "I support a moratorium until we make sure that any data center development is done on our terms," according to OPB's September 8 report. That statement puts her in the same position as her Republican opponent Christine Drazan on the issue, a shift OPB described as significant given Kotek's previously cautious posture. She also framed the move against federal policy, telling the rally, "Oregon is saying communities deserve a voice and data center companies need to be accountable," per Willamette Week.

Kotek called on the Legislature to pass a formal temporary ban when it convenes for the 2027 session. She acknowledged, per the Oregon.gov release announcing the land pause, that the state currently lacks authority to impose a full moratorium on private land — the agency-level pause is built on the state's control over its own property, not a general prohibition.

A narrower moratorium is already in effect

Oregon has been running a partial moratorium since June 5, 2026, when House Bill 4084 took effect, according to a client alert from Davis Wright Tremaine. That law barred new data centers from accessing the state's Enterprise Zone property tax incentive program, with the pause set to run until 90 days after the 2027 legislative session. The bill gave the Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee time to finish a study.

State regulators opened a public comment period on September 24, 2026 to gather input on managing data center growth in Hillsboro and Eastern Oregon, Axios Portland reported. Regulators cited a projection that data center demand will reach 32% of state electricity use by 2030, alongside water supply concerns — Axios did not name who produced that forecast or when, and no other outlet carries the figure. That feedback will feed the same advisory committee's recommendations to the governor and Legislature.

Three dates that set the next move

The advisory committee's final report is due in October 2026. And the Legislature convenes for its 2027 session with a governor-backed moratorium bill on the table. Those dates, not the July or September actions already reported elsewhere, are what a developer or county planning office needs on the calendar now.

What this means for the next county

The Salem cancellation shows what local opposition can still do even after a governor has signaled support for growth: one city council meeting and neighborhood pushback ended a $5 billion project's access to public land months before the statewide pause was announced. Counties weighing a similar proposal now have a template for how fast that leverage moved in Salem, and a governor on record saying the terms of any future deal are not yet settled.

Links Verified at Time of Publish.