Oregon Data Centers
- Google built its very first company-owned data center in The Dalles in 2006, drawn by Bonneville Power Administration hydroelectric rates as low as 3–5¢/kWh.
- Oregon has no state sales tax — saving hyperscale operators $30–50 million or more on equipment purchases per facility compared to states with 6–8% sales tax.
- The state’s grid is approximately 70% renewable (hydro, wind, solar), making Oregon one of the cleanest data center markets in the nation.
Silicon Forest to the Columbia Basin
Oregon’s data center market spans two distinct geographies. Washington County (Hillsboro, Beaverton) — the Silicon Forest — hosts the densest cluster, with campuses from Google, Amazon, Meta, and Vantage operating alongside Intel’s semiconductor fabs. Eastern Oregon offers a completely different value proposition: Umatilla County (Boardman) and Wasco County (The Dalles) provide massive tracts of land with direct access to BPA hydroelectric power at some of the lowest rates in the nation. Google’s very first company-owned data center was built in The Dalles in 2006 — a decision that proved the viability of remote, power-optimized site selection and influenced the industry for a generation.
Oregon Data Centers by County
' . $county_count . ' Oregon counties have tracked facilities, split between the Portland metro (Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas) and the Columbia Basin (Morrow, Umatilla, Wasco, Crook). The eastern Oregon sites are almost exclusively hyperscale — operators who need tens of megawatts of cheap, clean power and don’t need urban proximity.
| County | Facilities | Capacity (MW) | Top Operators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 25 | 730 | Aligned Data Centers, Crane Data Centers Inc., Crane Data Centers +10 more |
| Morrow | 16 | 2,304 | Amazon Web Services, DMG Blockchain Solutions, Rowan Green Data (DBA Rowan Digital Infrastructure) |
| Umatilla | 12 | 150 | Amazon Web Services, Sabey Data Centers |
| Crook | 8 | 400 | Apple Inc., Apple, Meta |
| Wasco | 5 | 300 | |
| Marion | 3 | — | Lumen Technologies, Verrus, State of Oregon |
| Deschutes | 3 | — | Fort Rock Data Center, OneNeck IT Solutions, US Signal |
| Multnomah | 3 | — | H5 Data Centers, Lumen Technologies, Alco Properties |
| Gilliam | 1 | — | Amazon Web Services |
| Hood River | 1 | — | Abundant Mines (Good Life Realty LLC) |
| Lane | 1 | — | Data Center West, Inc. |
| Jackson | 1 | — | Data Center West, Inc. |
| Linn | 1 | — | Stayton Cooperative Telephone Company |
| Clackamas | 1 | — | Siemens Digital Industries Software |
Google, Amazon, Meta, and the BPA Advantage
Google operates in both The Dalles and the Portland metro, giving it a presence in both Oregon markets. Amazon Web Services has a major eastern Oregon footprint, and Meta operates hyperscale facilities near Boardman. In the Silicon Forest, Vantage, Flexential, and EdgeConneX serve the colocation market. Oregon’s operator mix is unusually weighted toward hyperscale — the BPA power advantage attracts exactly the kind of massive, power-hungry facilities that dominate the AI era.
| # | Operator | Facilities | Capacity (MW) | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon Web Services | 26 | 2,000 | Arlington, Boardman, Hermiston, Mcnary |
| 2 | Flexential | 5 | 113 | Hillsboro |
| 3 | Meta | 5 | 400 | Prineville |
| 4 | 5 | 300 | The Dalles | |
| 5 | STACK Infrastructure | 4 | 207 | Hillsboro |
| 6 | QTS Data Centers | 3 | 200 | Hillsboro |
| 7 | Lumen Technologies | 2 | — | Salem, Portland |
| 8 | Crane Data Centers | 2 | 124 | Forest Grove |
| 9 | Data Center West, Inc. | 2 | — | Eugene, Medford |
| 10 | Digital Realty | 2 | — | Hillsboro |
| 11 | Apple Inc. | 2 | — | Prineville |
| 12 | Alco Properties | 1 | — | Portland |
| 13 | Siemens Digital Industries Software | 1 | — | Wilsonville |
| 14 | OneNeck IT Solutions | 1 | — | Bend |
| 15 | Sabey Data Centers | 1 | 150 | Mcnary |
| 16 | US Signal | 1 | — | Bend |
| 17 | Rowan Green Data (DBA Rowan Digital Infrastructure) | 1 | 300 | Boardman area (Tower Road) |
| 18 | Verizon Business | 1 | — | Hillsboro |
| 19 | Stayton Cooperative Telephone Company | 1 | — | Lyons |
| 20 | State of Oregon | 1 | — | Salem |
| 21 | H5 Data Centers | 1 | — | Portland |
| 22 | Verrus | 1 | — | Salem |
| 23 | OVHcloud | 1 | — | Hillsboro |
| 24 | NTT Global Data Centers | 1 | 36 | Hillsboro |
| 25 | Abundant Mines (Good Life Realty LLC) | 1 | — | Cascade Locks |
Oregon’s Highest-Capacity Facilities
' . htmlspecialchars($cap_names[0]) . ' County leads with ' . number_format($top_cap[$cap_names[0]]["cap"]) . ' MW — reflecting the hyperscale concentration in eastern Oregon. Individual Amazon and Meta facilities near Boardman are among the largest in the Pacific Northwest, with power draws that rival small towns. The Silicon Forest has smaller but denser facilities optimized for interconnection.
| # | Facility | Operator | Location | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS Boardman Exascale (Threemile Canyon) | Amazon Web Services | Boardman, Morrow Co. | 1,000 MW | Planned |
| 2 | Amazon Boardman Exascale Data Center Campus | Amazon Web Services | Boardman, Morrow Co. | 1,000 MW | Planned |
| 3 | Meta Prineville Data Center Campus | Meta | Prineville, Crook Co. | 400 MW | Operational |
| 4 | Google The Dalles Data Center Campus | The Dalles, Wasco Co. | 300 MW | Operational | |
| 5 | Percheron Data Center | Rowan Green Data (DBA Rowan Digital Infrastructure) | Boardman area (Tower Road), Morrow Co. | 300 MW | Under Construction |
| 6 | QTS Hillsboro 2 | QTS Data Centers | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 180 MW | Operational |
| 7 | SDC Umatilla Campus | Sabey Data Centers | Mcnary, Umatilla Co. | 150 MW | Under Construction |
| 8 | Crane PDX01 | Crane Data Centers | Forest Grove, Washington Co. | 76 MW | Under Construction |
| 9 | STACK Hillsboro Campus | STACK Infrastructure | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 75 MW | Planned |
| 10 | STACK POR03 | STACK Infrastructure | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 72 MW | Operational |
| 11 | X Corp Hillsboro Data Center (Digital Realty) | X Corp | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 50 MW | Operational |
| 12 | Crane PDX02 | Crane Data Centers | Forest Grove, Washington Co. | 48 MW | Under Construction |
| 13 | NTT Hillsboro HI1 Data Center | NTT Global Data Centers | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 36 MW | Operational |
| 14 | STACK POR01 | STACK Infrastructure | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 36 MW | Operational |
| 15 | Flexential Portland - Hillsboro 3 | Flexential | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 36 MW | Operational |
| 16 | Flexential Portland-Hillsboro 6 | Flexential | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 36 MW | Planned |
| 17 | STACK POR02 | STACK Infrastructure | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 24 MW | Operational |
| 18 | QTS Hillsboro 1 | QTS Data Centers | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 20 MW | Operational |
| 19 | Flexential Portland - Hillsboro 4 (PDX04) | Flexential | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 18 MW | Operational |
| 20 | Flexential Portland - Hillsboro 2 | Flexential | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 18 MW | Operational |
| 21 | Flexential Portland - Hillsboro 1 (PDX01) | Flexential | Hillsboro, Washington Co. | 5 MW | Operational |
| 22 | DMG Blockchain Boardman Facility | DMG Blockchain Solutions | Boardman, Morrow Co. | 4 MW | Planned |
No Sales Tax, Cheap Hydro, and the SIP Tax Break
Oregon’s pipeline is fueled by three structural advantages that no neighboring state can fully match: zero sales tax on equipment, BPA hydropower at 3–5¢/kWh, and the Strategic Investment Program (SIP) that provides significant property tax abatements for qualifying investments exceeding $100 million. Meta, Amazon, and Google all have active expansion plans in both the Hillsboro corridor and eastern Oregon. The ' . number_format($pipeline) . ' facilities in Oregon’s pipeline are split roughly equally between the two regions.
BPA Hydropower: The Cheapest Clean Energy in Any U.S. Data Center Market
The Bonneville Power Administration markets wholesale electricity from 31 federal hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River system, providing rates as low as 3–5¢/kWh for large industrial users in eastern Oregon — roughly half the national average and a quarter of California’s rates. Portland General Electric serves the Hillsboro corridor at 7–9¢/kWh, still competitive. Oregon’s grid is approximately 70% renewable, making it one of the greenest options for operators with corporate sustainability commitments. Compare current Oregon electricity rates across utilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Google build its first data center in The Dalles, Oregon?
In 2006, Google selected The Dalles in Wasco County for its first company-owned data center because of three factors: cheap BPA hydroelectric power, abundant Columbia River water for cooling, and available land at low cost. The success of this model influenced the entire industry’s approach to remote, power-optimized site selection.
What is the Bonneville Power Administration?
The BPA is a federal agency that markets wholesale electricity from 31 federal hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River system. It provides approximately 30% of the Pacific Northwest’s electricity at rates among the lowest in the nation. Data centers in eastern Oregon access BPA power through local utilities at 3–5¢/kWh.
How does Oregon's lack of sales tax benefit data centers?
Oregon has no state sales tax, so operators save on every equipment purchase. For a hyperscale facility with hundreds of millions in hardware, this represents savings of $30–50 million or more compared to states with 6–8% sales tax.
What is the Silicon Forest?
The Silicon Forest refers to the technology cluster in the Portland metro area’s west side, centered on Hillsboro and Beaverton in Washington County. Intel has been the anchor employer since the 1970s, and the region now hosts data center campuses from Google, Amazon, Meta, Vantage, and Flexential alongside semiconductor operations.
How many data centers are in Oregon?
Oregon has 81 tracked data center facilities across 14 counties. Facilities are split between the Hillsboro/Portland metro (Silicon Forest) and eastern Oregon’s Columbia Basin (Boardman, The Dalles).
Which companies operate the most data centers in Oregon?
Major operators include Google, Amazon Web Services, Meta, Vantage Data Centers, Flexential, EdgeConneX, and QTS. Google operates in both The Dalles and the Portland metro.