- Seattle City Council votes unanimously to ban new data center projects for an entire year
- It buys the council time to consider the impact of AI data centers on local resources
- Residents are tired of facing higher electricity bills and no clear benefits
Seattle has approved a one-year moratorium on the construction of new data centers, with the City Council unanimously voting in favor of the measure on June 9, 2026, making it the largest US city yet to enact such measures.
The temporary move targets new projects instead of pre-approved construction, citing concerns over energy use, water use, noise and other environmental impacts, as well as the rising utility bills residents face.
“The waiver of today’s moratorium does not stop AI or data centers,” Councilwoman Debora Juarez said in a city press release, noting that it instead serves to create time for Seattle to develop its own rules around future projects.
Seattle bans new data center projects
Public opposition quickly accelerated after reports revealed that four companies were exploring as many as five large-scale projects in and around the city, which together could have used 369 MW of energy – equivalent to about a third of the entire city.
As a result, many residents attended council meetings to raise concerns about higher electricity costs, e-waste generation, grid reliability, land use and its impact on housing and the limited job creation relative to resource use.
“We’ve heard from tens of thousands of residents — Seattleites shouldn’t be subsidizing record profits for big companies from the AI boom,” said Councilman Eddie Lin.
The pause gives Seattle time to consider all of these concerns over the next year without having to deal with the noise of approving additional projects.
Importantly, the moratorium is notable since Seattle is home to two of the world’s largest technology companies and the two hyperscalers that account for the largest cloud market shares—Amazon and Microsoft.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds.
