The Governor’s new Data Center Advisory Committee holds its first public meeting this Friday, 2/27/26. The decisions this committee makes will shape Oregon’s economy, our water and air, and our ability to fund schools and essential services for decades to come.

Right now, Oregon is giving away nearly $500 million in property tax breaks to data centers in a single year, even as school districts, firefighters, and rural communities struggle to make ends meet. In Hillsboro, prime industrial land that could host factories employing hundreds or thousands of people is instead occupied by massive server farms that employ only a handful of workers. One TikTok data center is saving $5.6 million this year while employing just 11 local workers — more than $500,000 in tax breaks per job, every year.

At the same time, parents and teachers are buying crayons and construction paper out of their own pockets, and rural Oregonians who are paying higher property taxes for basic services while wealthy tech companies pay little or nothing back to their communities. We can and must do better.

Take action here to submit your public comments to the Data Center Advisory Committee and let them know that we want Oregon’s economic development to be locally rooted, workforce-centered, and fiscally responsible — not written by and for the world’s largest tech companies.

Here’s how you can take action before and during Friday’s meeting:

✅ Sign up to give 2–3 minutes of public comment at 2 pm on Friday, February 27:

Register for the 2 pm Zoom webinar here https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bAgCYykdTayIVNw8M0hA0g, or using the link in the official agenda here: https://www.oregon.gov/energy/Get-Involved/Documents/2026-02-27-DCAC-Agenda.pdf

✅ You can also attend in person:

Roundup Conference Room, Business Oregon
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon St, Suite 205, Portland, OR 97204.

✅ Submit written testimony by email on the next page.

You can send testimony any time, but comments submitted by Friday will be most impactful for this first meeting. A template email is provided but please make this message your own by introducing yourself and how your comments are directly impactful to you and your community.

Here are a few key points you might highlight in your testimony:

• Oregon is already a top destination for data centers, and global data center investment is projected to reach into the trillions by 2030, driven largely by AI.

• Data centers are already receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks, while creating relatively few long-term, career-pathway jobs.

• We should stop giving blanket tax breaks to data centers and crypto mining operations and instead invest in Oregon-based businesses that create durable, local employment and recirculate money in our communities.

• The committee must consider impacts on water, land, air, farmland, and our regional economy before fast-tracking new data center development and should consider ending all public subsidies for data centers and crypto mining operations.