Fact Sheets

Research and evidence behind the fight against AI and datacenter expansion in Washington State.

2026

WA Data Centers - Fact Sheet

Energy demand, water use, land impact, tax subsidies, and the real jobs math behind Washington's datacenter buildout.

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2026

AI in the US & Washington - Fact Sheet

Big Tech's AI infrastructure push, the Trump administration's role, ethical concerns, nuclear expansion, and what it means for Washington State.

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FACT SHEET

Data Centers in Washington State

Over 130 data centers operate in Washington. Quincy alone has 53 facilities across 5.78 million square feet, one of the highest concentrations in the country. Planned expansion could add capacity exceeding the entire City of Seattle's electricity use.

130+
Data centers in WA state
$584M
In tax exemptions given to data centers 2012–2023
65%+
Of those exemptions flowed to Microsoft alone
24%
Projected share of regional electricity demand by 2030

⚡ Energy Demand

  • Data centers are among the fastest-growing electricity users in WA and the Pacific Northwest, projected to consume up to 13% of Washington's total electricity demand by 2030, challenging renewable energy goals and grid reliability. Sightline Institute
  • Rapid datacenter growth poses risks including higher electricity costs, reduced grid reliability, and increased blackout risk with projected 5–13% annual loss-of-load probability. Dept. of Revenue; Dept. of Ecology

💧 Water Use

  • Nationwide, data centers consume an estimated 17 billion gallons of water annually, with individual hyperscale facilities using hundreds of thousands of gallons per day. Berkeley Lab; Control Associates Inc; DGTL Infra
  • In Washington, datacenter water and hydropower use competes directly with salmon recovery and treaty-protected Tribal water rights in already stressed watersheds. EESI; Dept. of Revenue
  • In the Yakima Basin, reservoir storage has fallen as low as 32% of normal during drought conditions, forcing water rationing for farms, ecosystems, and communities. Dept. of Ecology

🌾 Land Use

🔒 Lack of Transparency

  • Frequent use of nondisclosure agreements limits communities, utilities, and policymakers from assessing cumulative impacts or ensuring public resources serve the public interest. Public Citizen
  • Washington has never tracked how much power data centers actually use statewide. Klean Industries

💸 Tax Subsidies & The Jobs Lie

  • Washington gave approximately $584 million in tax exemptions to data centers from 2012–2023, including over $118 million in 2023. Dept. of Revenue
  • Since 2018, 65%+ of those exemptions flowed to Microsoft, a company worth over $3 trillion. ProPublica
  • To qualify, data centers must create just 35 jobs or 3 per 20,000 sqft, an absurdly low bar. Even the largest facilities employ fewer than 150 permanent workers, sometimes as few as 25. JLARC; Environmental Resilience Institute; Business Insider; Good Jobs First
  • The only audit of this program found incentives produced as few as 260 total jobs across all facilities, at a cost of up to $205,000 per job. ProPublica
  • Recent industry analysis estimates an $800 billion revenue shortfall in AI by 2030 as investment far outpaces realistic revenues. Business Standard
  • Washington cut $20+ million in natural resource and conservation programs in the 2025–2027 biennium, including $1M in wildfire risk reduction. Office of Financial Management
  • Federal cuts have created losses for rural Washington counties of over $1 million per year for roads and schools. Data center tax exemptions strip counties of revenue they desperately need. Spokane Public Radio
FACT SHEET

AI in the US & Washington State

Big Tech corporations and government are working in partnership to manufacture an AI boom, building the largest infrastructure expansion in American history, while suppressing regulation and externalizing costs onto communities, workers, and the planet.

$400B
Spent by 4 Big Tech firms on datacenter infrastructure in 2025
$600B
Projected annual spend by 2027
5,000+
Data centers in the US, 10× more than Germany
70%
Of total datacenter capacity demand by 2030 will be AI workloads

🏛️ The Trump Administration

  • The Trump administration created an AI Action Plan and executive orders facilitating rapid AI infrastructure deployment, reducing AI regulations, and increasing AI exports. White House
  • Created the "AI and Crypto Czar" position for venture capitalist David Sacks, who advocates against regulating emerging technologies. Mintz; Time
  • Gave corporations like Palantir and Anduril billions in government contracts for AI-powered surveillance while gutting healthcare and food assistance programs. CNBC; AI Business; Healthline
  • Issued executive orders to boost nuclear power while eroding the autonomy of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. AP News; Washington Post; Common Dreams
  • Gutted the EPA through mass firings and pushed to rescind the endangerment finding on greenhouse gases, downplaying climate science. Bloomberg; LSE

⚖️ AI & Ethical Concerns

  • Generative AI models were trained on unauthorized copyrighted material without consent, including under Anthropic's Project Panama, leading to major lawsuits. Reuters; Washington Post
  • AI systems amplify bias, producing unequal healthcare, workplace, and policing outcomes for marginalized groups, while undermining democracy and raising documented risks to privacy, due process, and equality. Human Rights Watch
  • AI is also accelerating climate disinformation. Standard; DISA

🌲 Washington State & AI

  • Washington is not only a datacenter hub but a center for AI policy and innovation, Greater Seattle is one of the top AI job markets in the US. Greater Seattle
  • Governor Ferguson, Microsoft, and Amazon promoted the Cascadia Innovation Corridor to grow the regional AI economy. When the AI bubble bursts, this exposure becomes a fiscal crisis. The Olympian; Office of the Governor
  • Washington's AI policy task force raised concerns about lack of transparency, accountability, and healthcare/workplace protections, but the recommendations do not address monopolistic concentration of AI infrastructure, collective data sovereignty, or worker and community governance. Global Policy Watch

☢️ AI & Nuclear

  • Amazon's expansion near the Columbia River intersects with a push to develop small modular nuclear reactors near the Tri-City area under a contract with Energy Northwest. OPB
  • Microsoft purchased Three Mile Island to power its data centers. CRN
  • The Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have publicly opposed any expansion of nuclear energy in the region, citing threats to water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, cultural sites, and treaty rights. OPB
  • The Hanford Nuclear Reservation holds over 56 million gallons of radioactive waste still to be treated. Federal funding falls short and taxpayers spend $3 billion annually on cleanup. American Nuclear Society; Tri-City Herald