The city at the heart of Oregon’s Silicon Forest became the first in the state to enact a moratorium on new land use applications for data centers. The Hillsboro City Council unanimously adopted the 120-day moratorium at a special meeting Monday morning.
FILE - Fans that are part of a cooling system are seen on the roof of a data center, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Hillsboro, Ore.
Jenny Kane / AP
The moratorium also applies to new battery energy storage system (also called BESS) sites.
Hillsboro joined a growing list of communities across the country to approve temporary prohibitions on new data centers amid rising resentment against the water-and-power-hungry computing facilities. No other city in Oregon has enacted a moratorium, though some already ban data centers through prohibitions in their code.
With 35 data centers, according to the website Data Center Maps, Hillsboro has more than any other city in Oregon. According to the city, there are at least seven additional data center sites either under construction or moving ahead through the permitting phase.
Backlash against data centers in Hillsboro reached a fever pitch this spring as residents learned tech companies had secured decades worth of property tax breaks for their data center campuses.
Earlier this year, the Oregon Legislature enacted a one-year pause on new tax breaks for data centers through the state’s Enterprise Zone program. The move did not stop tech companies from submitting new development applications with local jurisdictions.
Hillsboro’s moratorium will not affect existing data centers or data centers for which land use applications have already been submitted. The 120-day pause is intended to give the city time to study the impacts of data centers and BESS sites and to amend its community development code to regulate these sites.
At the end of the 120 days, the council may choose to extend the moratorium for an additional 120 days. City Attorney Chad Jacobs told the council that state law limited moratoriums to 120 days.
At the start of Monday’s meeting, Mayor Beach Pace said the city only gave a day’s notice for the meeting to prevent tech companies from rushing to turn in applications before the moratorium went into effect.
Most of the community members who provided testimony at the meeting spoke in favor of the moratorium.
“Taking a pause to study, reflect and gather all the facts is both prudent and ethical leadership,” one commenter in favor of the moratorium, who gave her name only as Barbara, said.
But the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Westside Economic Alliance and three unions representing electricians, carpenters and other workers urged otherwise.
The chamber of commerce encouraged the council to engage with stakeholders more before enacting the moratorium.
“Because these facilities are critical infrastructure, the chamber believes a moratorium should only be considered after the established planning processes have been completed, stakeholders have had meaningful opportunity to participate and the governor’s data center advisory council has had the opportunity to complete its work,” Chamber Vice President of Public Affairs Jen Little said.
A representative from Portland General Electric and green energy advocates asked the council not to include battery storage facilities in the moratorium, arguing they’re an important piece of a reliable energy system.
“They play a vital role in Oregon’s energy future and already support energy resilience and affordable electric service in Hillsboro,” Adam Capage of Renewable Northwest said.
Councilors including Cristian Salgado and Rob Harris acknowledged that though they often come together, battery storage facilities are different from data centers. However, they said the city needs to better understand the impacts of both and enact code amendments to account for those impacts. They voted in favor of including the battery facilities in the moratorium to give the city time to research and propose changes to Hillsboro’s zoning code.
