‘You probably have one election cycle’: Quiet warning about data centers sparked a grassroots movement that…
- Oregon’s data center tax breaks have become a major political flashpoint statewide
- A warning about one election cycle helped accelerate Oregon’s grassroots organizing
- More than $450 million in exemptions intensified scrutiny of Oregon data centers
Oregon’s expanding data center industry has triggered an increasingly organized political backlash involving residents, environmental groups, educators, farmers and elected officials.
The dispute intensified after reports showed Oregon data centers receiving more than $450 million in property tax exemptions during 2026, including about $85 million in the Hillsboro area.
The resistance is a grassroots coalition led by the nonprofit 1000 Friends of Oregon, which has already helped unseat a Hillsboro-area senator and pushed Governor Tina Kotek to reverse course.
A warning turns into political action
Sam Diaz, executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, said his concerns deepened after seeing how facilities affected communities and resources around Prineville.
In 2022, a rancher told him water...
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