We who live, work, worship, and play in Seattle deserve a sustainable future, a thriving and healthy environment, affordable housing and utility costs, clean water and air, and to be treated with respect and dignity. The proliferation of large-load data centers threaten all of that and more as they over-burden the power grid, drain freshwater sources, produce an immense heat, and depend on the expansion of the fossil fuel industry. Big Tech claims data centers and AI are for us, but the reality is much different. Data Centers are built on our exploitation for the benefit of tech oligarchs.
Let’s push back against big business, big tech, dirty energy, mass surveillance, mass layoffs, intellectual property theft, surveillance pricing, and the new military industrial complex.
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Good policy is driven by the opinions and needs of the people who are most and directly impacted by the circumstances the policy intends to regulate. As such, one of our principal aims this year is to engage and activate as many people as possible who are directly impacted to help shape the most responsive policy regarding large-load data centers in Seattle. There are three primary roots to our efforts: Organizing, Research, and Policy. You can hold an instrumental position and play a vital role in the resistance in one or more of these areas. Your interest, experience, and most of all your passion are all that is needed for you to get started.
In April of 2026 there were five proposed data centers in Seattle, sucking up 1/3 of Seattle’s electricity. Following public outcry and more than 100,000 opposition messages , the City Council passed a data center construction moratorium on June 9, 2026. The bill became Ordinance 127447 and contains a work plan to determine the regulations and any pertinent legislation needed to manage large load data centers, including utility rates. The Data Center Moratorium is limited to one year, with the option to extend in six month increments.
That’s where 350 Seattle’s Data Center Resistance team comes in. We have one year to ensure that when this moratorium ends, we have the best possible outcomes for the people of Seattle.
350 Seattle, alongside Troublemakers, Seattle DSA, Oil Gas Action Network (OGAN), and others who are part of the Washington Artificial Intelligence Resistance (WA-AIR) are organizing against data centers and the encroachment of AI across the state.
Moratorium Policy Details
We are working within the timeframe established by the Moratorium Work Plan, the major dates of which are:
- SCL to submit an analysis and proposal regarding electricity to City Council on 7/1/26
- SPU to submit an analysis and proposal regarding water to City Council by 10/30/26
- SDCI to submit proposed legislation regarding zoning and development standards to City Council in January 2027
- OSE to complete the Data Center Community Benefits Framework by 2/1/27
- City Council to vote on proposed legislation submitted by SDCI in March 2027
