The data center fight in Hillsboro, Oregon
As of October 1, 2026, Hillsboro, Oregon has a data center moratorium in force (action taken Jul 27, 2026; documented end date 2026-11-24).
Status is derived, not stored — a pause with a documented end date flips to Expired on its own — and the source is right next to the claim.
Status today
120-day land use moratorium on new or expanded data centers and battery storage as a primary use — Oregon's first. Called with one day's notice so applications could not be filed ahead of the vote; applications already in continue
SourceNews
read 2026-08-23
An expiry date is the earliest a pause could have ended — extensions are common, so confirm with the clerk before citing it.
The project on the table
Meta-QTS Hillsboro 2 —
Operator: Meta · Owner: Meta · Size: 180 MW
Chip types: H100. Epoch AI estimates ~180 MW.
Next: Already operating — the leverage now is enforcement: noise and water conditions, tax revenue tracking, and any expansion filing, which reopens the record.
Latest in the record
- 2026-07-27 — The Hillsboro City Council unanimously voted to impose a 120-day moratorium on new data center and battery energy storage system applications, including expansions, effective until at least November 24, 2026. · source
- 2026-06-25 — 1000 Friends of Oregon and the Oregon Education Association filed suit challenging multiple enterprise zone tax exemption agreements for data center projects (including QTS) approved in spring 2026 before Oregon's statewide moratorium took effect on June 6. · source
- 2026-06-04 — About 40 Hillsboro residents spoke at a June 2 City Council meeting demanding a halt to data center development, citing concerns over farmland consumption (470 acres), water and energy costs, noise, and limited job creation; Council President Rob Harris proposed considering a one-year moratorium. · source
- 2026-05-18 — Approximately 100 Hillsboro residents rallied at Shute Farm to oppose data center tax giveaways; speakers cited $67 million in annual exempted property taxes from four nearby data centers, with QTS facilities holding a $2.428 billion exemption, and a moratorium petition nearing 4,000 signatures. · source
- 2026-05-05 — The Hillsboro Herald published an open letter citing $11 billion in data center tax breaks extended through 2051 and linking the city's $1.6 billion water infrastructure debt to System Development Charges tied to data center growth; over 3,400 signatures had been gathered on a moratorium petition. · source
- 2026-04-02 — KLCC reported that Oregon data centers use 11% of the state's electricity, potentially doubling to 25% within 3-4 years, with Hillsboro identified as a key hub where industrial land has become scarce due to rapid data center development. · source
Full dated timeline on the project tracker.
Source. Read 2026-08-14.
Recent news
7 stories tracked since 2026-06-23 across 4 outlets. 3× A community is pushing back on a nearby data center. 2× Local officials are moving to pause or block the project. Most recent: “Progress and Pitfalls: Inside Hillsboro’s Redrafted Data Center Ordinance To Be Heard This Wednesday” (The Hillsboro Herald, 2026-09-08).
- Progress and Pitfalls: Inside Hillsboro’s Redrafted Data Center Ordinance To Be Heard This Wednesday
- Hillsboro Tops Nation with 0.21% Data Center Vacancy Rate — As Local Moratorium Ticks Down and Worries Mount Over Schools
- Hillsboro Planning Commission hears testimony on proposed data center restrictions
- New data center in Hillsboro could be 200 feet away from high school
- Two data centers beat Hillsboro to the finish line on permitting ban
- Hillsboro approves data center moratorium
- Hillsboro data center fight heads to court
Automated news aggregation, not human-verified — follow each link to the original outlet. Part of the story tracker, 7 headlines archived.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in Oregon.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- Oregon briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Nearby in Oregon
- Woodburn (26 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
- Oregon (statewide) (40 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
- Salem (40 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
- Clackamas County (44 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
- Oregon (state land) (161 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-07-01
- Oregon (enterprise zone tax) (169 mi) — Enactedno fixed end — runs until a condition is met
All 7 tracked actions in Oregon are on the state page.
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Part of the U.S. data center moratorium tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0.