Even if they are based elsewhere in the Seattle area rather than in the city proper, Microsoft and Amazon are two colossal technology companies that invest countless millions of dollars per second in AI computing. However, on Tuesday, Seattle passed a one-year ban in large data centers.
In April, reported the Seattle Times that the city’s electric utility, Seattle City Light, was facing a data center problem: Four mysterious companies were starting work on five separate large data center projects that would have drawn power from Seattle’s grid, consuming 369 megawatts in a city with only about a gigawatt of capacity. A Seattle City Light representative, Andy Strong, told the Times, “We have a limited number of engineers. We have a limited number of project managers,” adding, “It’s going to have an impact.”
According to an article last week in The GuardianThe news alarmed Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who told that newspaper: “That was the first time I, as mayor, had heard about this.” She and the city council reportedly received 10,000 emails from residents in favor of the moratorium and “were happy to move toward a moratorium, especially knowing that there was really strong public support for that course of action.”
The Guardian also claims that Seattle is the largest city yet to pass such a measure. According to a site called US Data Center Moratorium Tracker (which, it should be noted, is a project of hedge fund Interconnected Capital) there have been 111 local data center moratoriums and 77 are currently active.
Seattle’s moratorium was approved unanimously. according to a press release on the Seattle City Council website. “I am grateful to the City Council for their work on this data center moratorium and look forward to signing it into law,” Wilson says in the press release.
Councilman Eddie Lin adds in the statement:
“Seattlers should not be subsidizing large corporations’ record profits from the AI boom. At the same time, the city is home to smaller colocation facilities that provide data processing for 911 call centers, municipal activities, hospitals, universities, and cancer research. We can support these essential services while developing appropriate safeguards around AI mega data centers at the local and regional levels.”
As the Times notes, the bill lasts one year and freezes data center development beyond a size threshold of about 20 megawatts. It also comes with the option to add an additional six months to the moratorium. A separate and related city bill passed Tuesday calls for an analysis of data centers’ energy, water and land use, along with their impacts on residents’ health and employment.
