Historic First: All 12 Portland City Councilors Co-Sponsor Data Center Transparency Resolution

PORTLAND, OR — Last night, Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane led the Portland City Council to pass a resolution urging the City Administrator to refrain from signing data center non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), notify City Council of inquiries for data center deals, and engage in transparent public processes related to data centers. The resolution further states that City Council intends to pursue a moratorium or zoning restrictions on all hyperscale data centers, and to consider additional approaches for large-load data centers.

Koyama Lane's team developed the resolution in close partnership with Councilor Mitch Green's office, drawing on months of research and guidance from City staff experts. The resulting policy found unanimous agreement across the Council. Early co-sponsors included Councilors Avalos, Green, Kanal, Pirtle-Guiney, and Zimmerman, though ultimately, all 12 Councilors signed on as co-sponsors – the first full-Council co-sponsorship since Portland voters approved the revised charter and the new Council format took effect.

"This is exactly the kind of collaborative, forward-looking governance Portlanders should expect from this Council," Councilor Koyama Lane said. "I'm grateful to my Housing and Permitting colleague, Councilor Green, who joined as a co-sponsor before this came to committee and helped develop the resolution and for the enthusiastic support of the full Council – and especially to all the advocates and staff who helped get us here so quickly."

Data center debates are intensifying across the state, region, and the country as residents learn more about energy use, utility rate increases, false claims about boosting economic development and jobs, land use and zoning issues, health impacts, and quality of life issues.

"Data centers can create massive demands on electricity, water, land, and infrastructure, and Portlanders deserve to be in the know if a developer is trying to build one in our city," said Councilor Avalos. "Our resolution to ban broad NDAs for data center developments sets the expectation that these decisions get made in the open and with the public at the table. This is just the first step: as councilors, we need to continue to pursue strong protections and accountability for data centers."

"Portlanders want good-paying jobs, not data centers," Councilor Pirtle-Guiney said. "These facilities don't meet Portland's environmental and community values, and the data shows that they do not produce the long-term, high-wage employment opportunities our city needs."

The resolution comes as at least 10 sites within Portland city limits, including Hayden Island, near OHSU, South Waterfront, and locations on both sides of the Willamette River, have been identified as capable of accommodating a hyperscale data center. According to datacentermap.com, as of August 2026 there are an estimated 135 data centers of various ownerships and types in Oregon, with 18 facilities located in Portland. Hillsboro, Portland's neighbor to the west, has the most data centers of any municipality in the state at 35, and became the first Oregon city to enact a moratorium on new land use applications for data centers.

"Transparency must be standard practice in Portland," said Councilor Sameer Kanal. "We, as a city, decide how we use our land, and City leaders have a responsibility to follow a public process, be good stewards of our environment, and not greenlight facilities that extract resources and raise utility rates with no evidence of meaningful direct economic benefit for our community. Data centers aren't inevitable—no matter what tech CEOs say."

"When it comes to data centers in Portland, Portlanders must be in the driver's seat. I support Council's effort to remove secrecy and explore a responsible, public-centered, accountable process with clear safeguards," Mayor Wilson said.

Non-disclosure agreements between data center developers and local governments are common and widespread nationally, despite broad public disagreement. Portlanders do not want NDAs for data centers, and City Council responded.

"This is only a first step," Councilor Koyama Lane stated. "We need to act with urgency and to push for the strongest protections like moratoriums or an outright ban. We have broad public support to act boldly. But this resolution isn't just about data centers. It's about transparency and public trust. If a project is actually a good deal for Portland, it should hold up in the light of a public process."

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