To those who believe data centers are just an urban and suburban issue for planners to contend with? Think again. Just ask Prineville, Umatilla, and Boardman in Oregon or to the north ask Quincy, Washington. All of these smaller cities and towns are facing similar planning dilemmas as Northern Virginia, Seattle, and Silicon Valley. Just check out the satellite images provided below to see that data center sprawl is no longer confined to populous regions, but are also popping up in rural or semi-rural areas.
Your community, regardless of size, may attract a data center if has the following benefits:
- Lower land prices;
- Available land;
- Available talent;
- Low cost electricity – this is preeminent given the electricity needs of data centers;
- Ample water supplies;
- Competitive tax structure;
- Low risk from natural disasters;
- Access to fiber infrastructure; and
- Access to major markets.
The more competitive the community is in these areas, the more likely it may attract a cluster of data centers. However, while these facilities can generate significant tax revenue, they do not necessarily translate into large number of jobs, except perhaps during construction.
“Large companies often build these data centers in rural areas with inexpensive land and utilities, but do not usually bring large numbers of jobs to these areas, as some residents expect they will.”
Source: trchrepublic.com
As described in a previous post about second tier data center markets like Columbus, Ohio, planning professionals in rural areas that are ripe for data center development will have many issues to contend with. These range from properly separating competing land uses, up-to-date zoning standards, potential noise pollution, the possibility of data center sprawl if the site/community prove to be a competitive and cost-effective location, and many more. Unlike their more populous counterparts, the availability of vacant or underutilized buildings is less likely due to the smaller market size.
Beyond the obvious planning issues related to the centers themselves, the associated economic and population growth will require proactive planning and zoning steps to assure the community does not lose its charm, history/culture, or identity as a result of the arrival of the data centers.
The images below show how four communities in the Pacific Northwest now appear from space with an influx of data centers in their midst. The largest of the four, Prineville, has a population of just over 12,000 residents. If combined with next door Hermiston, Umatilla and Hermiston together would exceed 27,000 people. Peace!
“At this point [2018], it’s a given that Prineville houses at least 100 servers for every human resident.”*
Source: datacenterfrontier.com
*[That would equate to more than 1.2 million servers in 2024.]
- Crooked River Valley
- Near Bend and Redmond, Oregon
- Near U.S. 97
- Oregon – 7th lowest electricity prices
- Population is estimated to have grown approximately 10.5% since 2020.
- Columbia River Valley
- Along I-84 near I-82
- Nearly equidistant from Portland, Seattle, Spokane, and Boise
- Oregon – 7th lowest electricity prices
- Population is estimated to have grown approximately 4.5% since 2020.
- Columbia River Valley
- Along I-82 just north of I-84
- Nearly equidistant from Portland, Seattle, Spokane, and Boise
- Oregon – 7th lowest electricity prices
- Additional data centers are located in adjacent Hermiston, OR, just to the south of Umatilla
- Population is estimated to have grown approximately 6.0% since 2020.
- Columbia River Valley
- North of I-90
- Washington – 6th lowest electricity prices
- Current data centers occupy more than 1.5 million square feet in Grant County
- Data centers paid 22% of all the property taxes in Grant County (where Quincy is located) in 2020
- Population is estimated to have grown approximately 14.3% since 2020.
“Cloud service providers tend to pick isolated areas with cheap, plentiful, and renewable energy sources. The tiny central Washington town of Quincy (population 6,700) has almost a dozen data centers, and it is because the area has plenty of room and lots of hydroelectric power from the Columbia River.”
Source: datacenterknowledge.com
SOURCES:
- datacenters.com
- https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/infrastructure/energy/electricity-price
- scribblemaps.com
- mygooglemaps.com
- https://www.washingtontechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/WTIA-Report-Data-Center-Impact-January-2022.pdf
- https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-data-centers-fail-to-bring-new-jobs-to-small-towns/
- https://www.grantedc.com/key-industries/data-centers/
- worldpopulationreview.com
- https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/cloud/article/11429998/facebook-expanding-prineville-campus-to-32-million-sf
- https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/buildconstruction/data-centers-push-new-territories-pursuit-energy-space?_mc=NL_DR_EDT__20240311&cid=NL_DR_EDT__20240311&utm_rid=CPNET000051465092&utm_campaign=57457&utm_medium=email&elq2=c4d90ae45a71466ab28ab67767b19630&sp_eh=3aa898828ec991697786a6eedc4ac9af6257a3edfdb75f58d63155fc2d74917e
problogic
Panethos 
Minor nitpick about the location of Umatilla. You got the names of the interstates switched. It’s along I-82, just north of I-84.
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Thank you!
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