Commissioners still pondering data center rules

In the original version of this story, which ran Oct. 21, Klickitat County Commissioner Ron Ihrig was misquoted. Commissioner Todd Andrews asked his fellow seatmates to consider a moratorium on data centers — not Ihrig. The original story also didn’t report on the most recent draft data center ordinance. We regret the errors, and have opted to rerun the entire story to correct the public record on this important topic. Online versions have been similarly corrected.

KLICKITAT CO. — Near the end of a two-hour public comment period on Oct. 13, Klickitat County Commissioner Todd Andrews again asked his fellow commissioners, Ron Ihrig and Lori Zoller, whether they would consider a moratorium on data centers.

“I feel as helpless as some of you guys. I’m one vote,” Andrews said to the audience. To the commissioners, he asked, “Would either of you guys entertain a motion to do a moratorium?”

One audience member could be heard saying, “Finally!” Neither Ihrig nor Zoller did, however, during another morning workshop session on the financially lucrative but resource-intensive facilities.

The exchange took place before a packed audience with standing room only, with at least 50 individuals joining from Zoom. Every public comment, save one, asked the board of commissioners to implement a temporary pause on data center applications in Klickitat County while an ordinance and potential interim zoning rule were finalized.

So far, no developers have submitted building permits to the planning department. Andrews had previously brought a draft moratorium ordinance to the Aug. 11 meeting, which also did not move forward, though it wasn’t on the agenda.

“I need to talk to legal counsel about it,” Zoller replied. “There are some caveats that go with that.”

She stated concerns about possible legal repercussions for the county that would be costly. However, there are no accounts of a data center developer suing a Washington or Oregon county because it enacted a data center moratorium.

At the time of the meeting, six known data centers countywide were in various stages of planning, as previously reported by Columbia Gorge News. But now there is a seventh.

On Sept. 28, Klickitat Public Utility District (KPUD) submitted another energy access request to Bonneville Power Administration for a data center from Clenera Tech Center Holdings. It would be for 300 megawatts and use the Energizer substation, with diesel generators providing backup power.

Clenera, a renewable energy company, did not respond to comment on the data center’s location, what energy sources will be used and whether water sources have been confirmed.

A moratorium would not affect whether developers can submit a power access request to KPUD and Bonneville, and Zoller has noted that obtaining transmission capacity can take anywhere from six to twelve years.

Public responds

“I’m not seeing a timeline emerge from this process, which is very concerning,” said Snowden resident Jenn Sharp, noting that nearly six weeks have passed since commissioners hosted a Sept. 3 workshop on data centers without approving an ordinance.

Sharp began an online petition in early Sept. asking for a data center moratorium in Klickitat County, which had 1,024 signatures as of Oct. 12. She submitted the petition to the commissioners the afternoon before the meeting.

“We’re going to continue to collect signatures. We’re not done,” Sharp added.

Other residents felt similarly. “We have seen eminent domain [used] to expand energy infrastructure to power data centers,” said Lyle resident Pam Springer. “They threaten tribal sovereign rights. The county and state have ignored the needs and rights of Indigenous residents who were promised control and a say in how their remaining lands are used.”

Mike Todd, a Goldendale resident, said, “Behind me you have a slice of Americana. You have a group of people who all we’re trying to do is be good citizens.”

Enacting a moratorium is a no-brainer, regardless of the income it could bring to the county, said Todd, who formerly worked as a career firefighter at the City of Seattle and now volunteers locally. “I would love to see the fire service here with better resources, but not at this cost,” he said. “This is not the way to do it.”

The public comment period followed a discussion about the current data center ordinance draft that Klickitat County’s Planning Department brought to the commissioners. Under the most recent language, data centers would only be allowed conditionally in general industrial and industrial park zones, and nowhere else.

Three possible outcomes, no approval

At the meeting, three potential avenues for data centers were discussed: a moratorium, an ordinance and an interim zoning rule. None were passed, and none would permanently stop a data center from developing.

For the ordinance, commissioners were concerned that if data centers were allowed conditionally, those conditions needed to be explicit. Additional questions arose about whether developers could side-step local ordinance policy in favor of state laws, using the Carriger Solar Project as an example. Gov. Bob Ferguson approved the facility in December 2025.

Currently, Klickitat County follows a 2023 code interpretation on data center policy — allowing them outright on land zoned as industrial park, which eliminates public input except during the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review.

“Conditional use allows that second stage of public input, not just on SEPA, but on the actual development and its potential impacts on the neighbors,” said Scott Edelman, community development director. “As conditional use would imply, you put conditions on it that would mitigate those impacts.”

The first ordinance draft was completed Sept. 22, followed by a second on Oct. 1 and a third on Oct. 13. All are available on Klickitat County’s website.

Notably, the proposed setback between data centers and residential areas was reduced from one mile to an unspecified amount that commissioners will decide later. A condition that data centers must “not impact electrical power utilized by residential users at the time of the project’s development, and throughout the continued operation of the facility” was also dropped between the drafts, though applicants still have to “secure and finance the power supply for the design, construction, and cost of infrastructure necessary to deliver the power supply to the KPUD transmission system.”

Further, the third draft no longer requires data centers to employ closed-loop cooling or disclose actual water usage, but demonstrate that design minimizes consumption “to the maximum extent possible.” It also mandates noise and visual impact studies for applications near residential areas, and states that diesel backup generators need a separate permit, among other provisions.

Economic Development Specialist Keaton Curtice noted that setting limits on water consumption must be done by Washington’s Department of Ecology; power limits belong to KPUD and BPA. Additionally, the county cannot require local hiring or a community benefits agreement as part of the ordinance.

Since the ordinance was not approved at the Oct. 13 meeting, it will now undergo additional changes based on feedback.

Commissioners also explored an interim zoning rule that would regulate how data centers are zoned in unincorporated areas — it’s essentially the middle ground between a moratorium and an ordinance. For six months, it would establish a list of requirements less comprehensive than the ordinance, such as no facilities within five miles of an unincorporated town, rather than putting a temporary, blanket pause on all applications.

Like the moratorium, though, commissioners recommended that the document go through additional review by legal counsel.