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Regbase

The Data Center Divide

City of Seattle

This restriction takes precedence while in effect. The rating below excludes temporary restrictions.

Neutral Data Center Policies

Seattle has enacted a one-year pause on applications to build or expand data centers, with a limited exception for some operating facilities; large facilities also face added power costs. A separate enacted resolution calls for study but imposes no restrictions.

Incentives

Water and electricity

Expands household Utility Discount Program eligibility by replacing 70% of Washington State median income with 60% of HUD area median income limits, allowing more households to qualify for rate assistance. This is household electricity assistance, not a data-center incentive.

Seattle Ordinance 127473 (2026)

current law · City of Seattle
Commits Seattle to study how data centers may affect electrical-grid capacity and reliability, water use, utility rates, land use, jobs, the economy, and public health, while considering cumulative impacts and effects on businesses, public services, Tribes, and Native communities.Seattle Resolution 32204 (2026)

What this means

The resolution directs the City to study data centers’ effects, but it does not itself restrict building, expansion, or operation. It says Council may later consider a separate moratorium and future rate rules, so those possible changes are not immediate effects of this measure (study direction; future moratorium consideration).

People behind it

  • Identified as a sponsor of Resolution 32204.

  • Identified as a sponsor of Resolution 32204.

  • Identified as a sponsor of Resolution 32204.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements2

  • The Council intends to consider an ordinance imposing a moratorium on the filing, acceptance, processing, or approval of applications for new or expanded data centers, whether as principal or accessory uses, while the City considers permanent legislation. The resolution does not itself enact the moratorium or specify its duration. moratorium that would prohibit the filing, acceptance, processing, or approval of applications for new or expanded data centers

  • The Council anticipates creating a new Seattle City Light customer class and conditions of service for new or existing data centers whose electricity demand constitutes a new large load, as part of future legislation establishing Seattle City Light rates for 2027 and 2028. These future conditions could create additional operating requirements or costs; they are not established by this resolution itself. establishing a new customer class and conditions of service for new or existing data centers

Sources

current law · City of Seattle
Establishes new Seattle City Light retail-rate schedules and a separate service framework for new large data-center loads.Seattle Ordinance 127473 (2026)

What this means

The measure would pause siting for a year for data centers using more than 20 MVA, making those projects wait. Large data centers would also face special electricity contracts and added costs for power infrastructure and resources, making development and operation substantially harder.

Timing

Ends
one year

The moratorium prevents siting in Seattle of data centers using more than 20 MVA. The start of the one-year period is unspecified. The ordinance source indicates there is no moratorium, so the sources conflict.

People behind it

  • Listed as the bill’s sponsor.

  • The Mayor’s legislation was transmitted to the City Council.

  • Proposed the strategic plan, cost-of-service study, and New Large Data Center Load Policy, and is responsible for administering the ordinance’s rate, contract, and Rate Stabilization Account provisions and the policy’s requirements.

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  • Passed the one-year moratorium on siting data centers over 20 MVA and will study their impacts.

  • The companion resolution calls on it to coordinate with City departments on policies, legislation, budget actions, and other steps concerning future data center activity.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements9

  • A one-year moratorium bars siting data centers within Seattle city limits that use more than 20 MVA.

  • For data center loads served from a new or expanded installation of at least 10 MVA within any consecutive five-year period after January 1, 2027, the ordinance requires a customer-specific service agreement instead of general service rates.

  • The service agreement must set a guaranteed minimum demand or service rating, require delivery at a single voltage and metering at no less than nominal 600 volts, specify a power factor of 97% lagging or better, and include curtailment and other energy-conservation measures.

  • The customer must pay the full upfront cost of infrastructure needed to serve the load, including feeder or transmission extensions or upgrades, substation upgrades, and other system modifications.

  • The customer must cover the full procurement cost of new resources, including power, transmission, and ancillary services, and remain responsible for the cost of City Light agreements made to serve the load until the service agreement expires.

  • The agreement must include charges based on marginal power and capacity costs, transmission and distribution costs, and a base service charge. If the highest 15-minute metered demand exceeds contract demand, the charge for the excess is 300% of the demand charge.

  • Service cannot begin until the agreement is fully executed and City Light has the infrastructure, contracts, and resources needed to provide service.

  • The ordinance limits data-center service agreements and related power or transmission procurement agreements to terms of no more than 20 years.

  • City Light may adopt rules specifying when service entrances are aggregated to determine whether a load meets the new-large-load threshold.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions2

  • The Department may sign electric-service contracts of up to 20 years for qualifying new large loads: at least 10 MVA of new or expanded capacity installed within a consecutive five-year period after January 1, 2027. Service begins only after the contract is signed and the necessary infrastructure, contracts, power supply, and resources are in place. The customer must meet the contract terms, including paying the full upfront cost of needed infrastructure and the cost of new resources. contracts with data center customers service will commence only after a Contract Service is only provided once the necessary power supply and infrastructure are in place.

  • The Department may enter into power-purchase or transmission-service agreements of up to 20 years when necessary to serve new large loads, allowing it to arrange power supply and delivery for qualifying data-center demand. agreements for the purchase of power or transmission services

Sources

current law · City of Seattle
Establishes a citywide, 365-day moratorium on filing, accepting, processing, or approving applications to establish, expand, or change a use to a data center in any zone, covering facilities exceeding 20 megavolt-amperes (MVA) and taking effect on June 11, 2026, as an emergency ordinance (ordinance record).Seattle Ordinance 127447 (2026)

What this means

The measure would pause applications to build, expand, or change a facility to a data center across Seattle for one year, with a limited exception for certain operating facilities to add up to 20 MVA (one-year moratorium and exception). That temporary citywide pause is a severe barrier to new development, even though it does not ban ongoing operations.

Timing

Ends
365 days from the effective date

The moratorium automatically expires after 365 days unless terminated sooner by the City Council or extended for one or more six-month periods in accordance with RCW 36.70A.390.

People behind it

  • Explicitly identified as a sponsor of Council Bill 121214.

  • Explicitly identified as a sponsor of Council Bill 121214.

  • Proposed and adopted the moratorium, approved the work plan, and directed its implementation.

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  • Assigned to lead development of the data center community benefits framework and coordinate related analysis.

  • Assigned to analyze data center electricity usage, rate structures, and policies, and report to the Council.

  • Assigned to analyze data center water usage, rate structures, and policies, and report to the Council.

  • Assigned to analyze zoning and development standards and propose legislation addressing data center impacts.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements4

  • A moratorium prohibits the filing, acceptance, processing, or approval of applications to establish, expand, or change the use to a data center in any Seattle zone, whether the data center is a principal or accessory use and whether it is part of a larger project or the entire project. The moratorium applies to facilities meeting the ordinance’s definition of a data center: primarily housing or operating computer and networking equipment, with capacity over 20 MVA, and generally requiring uninterruptible power and related infrastructure. (https://clerk.seattle.gov/~archives/Ordinances/Ord_127447.pdf#:~:text=The%20Council%20adopts%20a%20moratorium)

  • The moratorium does not apply to an expansion of no more than an additional 20 MVA when the facility is operating on the ordinance’s effective date and either already qualifies as a data center or would qualify except that its existing capacity is 20 MVA or less. (https://clerk.seattle.gov/~archives/Ordinances/Ord_127447.pdf#:~:text=The%20moratorium%20does%20not%20apply)

  • The moratorium lasts 365 days from the effective date and automatically expires afterward unless extended as authorized by law or ended earlier by the City Council. The City may renew it for one or more additional six-month periods. (https://clerk.seattle.gov/~archives/Ordinances/Ord_127447.pdf#:~:text=shall%20be%20in%20effect%20for%20a%20period%20of%20365%20days)

  • Seattle’s land-use permit intake checklist must require applicants to provide information about electrical capacity in megavolt-amperes, making that information necessary for a complete land-use permit application. (https://clerk.seattle.gov/~archives/Ordinances/Ord_127447.pdf#:~:text=amend%20the%20Intake%20Submittal%20Checklist)

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions2

  • Facilities with capacity of 20 MVA or less are excluded from the ordinance’s definition of “data center,” so establishing or changing a use to such a facility is not subject to this data-center moratorium.

  • An existing facility operating when the ordinance takes effect may expand its capacity by up to an additional 20 MVA without being subject to the moratorium, provided it is already a data center under the new definition or would otherwise qualify except that its existing capacity is 20 MVA or less.

Sources

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