Seattle, WA
Seattle leaders’ proposed one-year ban on data centers met with strong support
SEATTLE — City leaders are considering a one-year ban on new data centers in Seattle, and many residents are overwhelmingly on board.
Councilmembers Debora Juarez, Eddie Lin, and Council President Joy Hollingsworth introduced the year-long moratorium after reports that four companies have gone to Seattle City Light with proposals to build five large-scale data centers in the Seattle area.
Along with the legislation, councilmembers are also weighing a resolution that would require the city to study how these data centers impact city infrastructure, water usage, utility rates, public health, and more.
The drafted resolution defines data centers as “facilities consisting of housing and infrastructure (heating, cooling, lighting, offices) to support servers (computers), data storage systems, networking equipment, uninterruptible power supply batteries, or backup power generators.” Demand for the centers is growing as the AI industry expands, sponsors said.
On Wednesday, the city’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee was briefed on the proposed ban, and the Parks and City Light Committee discussed the resolution. Neither committee took a vote. However, dozens of people voiced support for the moratorium during public comment periods.
“Public utilities should prioritize public needs, including climate, over the profit interests of big tech,” Rebecca Wood said.
Residents’ concerns about data centers ranged from rising utility rates to increased pressure on the city’s power grid and environmental harms across the Seattle region.
“We are in a climate crisis. We know this, and it is time for us to act urgently. Building data centers is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing,” Alecia Gaussoin said.
Seattle already has roughly 30 small data centers. The large-scale centers in question would be the first of their size in the region, and they would have a combined maximum demand of 369 megawatts — enough to power about 300,000 homes — according to city officials.
“Comparing the 30 that we have in Seattle to the ones they are trying to build here is like saying my bearded dragon is the same as Godzilla,” Evan Sutton said during public comment.
The resolution also calls for cooperation from the mayor’s office in creating policies to guide future legislation and budget appropriations.
Both city committees are expected to vote on the proposed one-year ban and resolution June 3. If passed, the moratorium would take effect immediately.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Police are talking with a person who reported being a victim of a street robbery late tonight at or near California SW and SW Raymond. The initial report was that two Black male juveniles, both in masks and hoodies, held the victim up at gunpoint, stole their phone, and got away in a gray Tesla with no plates.
12:55 PM: Again this year, the West Seattle Junction Association has decked the heart of the business district with rainbow flags to celebrate Pride on the night of June’s WS Art Walk. As featured in our calendar and daily event list, Pride events tonight include a meetup at VAIN (4513 California SW) at 6 pm and then a “dance party” in the Walk All Ways intersection at 6:30; that’ll be followed by a drag show at Jet City Labs (4547 California SW) and the only event on the slate that’ not all-ages, an 8:30 pm afterparty at The Poggie.
ADDED 3:15 PM: Victoria at VAIN sent several reasons to stop there at the start of tonight’s celebration – “We have a limited number of Pride flags to give away before we proceed down to the intersection. We have a small run of West Seattle Pride shirts to sell. PFLAG wil have an info table with some giveaways as well.”
We’re just a few days from the first 2026 FIFA World Cup match in Seattle.
If you like driving, you should probably just avoid Seattle. Using your car is not going to be easy on game days. As King County executive Girmay Zahilay said during preparations, “for visitors and residents, our message is simple: leave the driving to us.”
Transit is really going to be the only way to get near the stadium district on those six match days.
Seattle has created an exclusion or no-go zone from Yesler south through the stadiums on those days. The southern border of the exclusion zone is Edgar Martinez Drive. You will only be able to drive southbound on 1st Avenue. That’s the only street available to cars from about four hours before matches until the traffic has cleared.
Alaskan Way will remain open. So will 4th Avenue.
Pioneer Square will be off-limits to almost all car traffic. Street parking is also a casualty. Those spots will go away as early as 2 a.m. on game days. There is no drive-up lot parking on match days. Those parking passes for lots outside the exclusion zone must be purchased in advance.
Sound Transit is the best way to get to the matches
CEO Dow Constantine shared this piece of advice.
“From the north, we’re going to encourage you to use Pioneer Square Station,” he said. “If you’re coming from the east, we’re going to encourage you to use the International District Chinatown Station. If you’re coming from the south, we’re going to encourage you to use the Stadium Station. All of these give you ready access to Seattle Stadium and to all the festivities around the matches.”
And Sound Transit has increased train frequency to move as many people as possible.
“Operationally, on game days, we will increase service on the 1 and 2 Lines, so we’ll be running eight-minute service on all the lines all evening long,” Constantine said. “That means four-minute service all day long from the International District to Lynnwood.”
The ferry service is maxing its capacity to meet demand. So is King County Metro.
Here are the dates you want to avoid being in downtown Seattle if you’re not going to games.
June 15. June 19. June 24. June 26. July 1. July 6.
Most construction is taking this time off to provide as much space as possible during the event.
You can ride bikes and scooters through the exclusion zone, but you will be subject to an 8 mph speed limit.
Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.
Follow @https://twitter.com/newsguysully
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