Large load tariffs on data centers can protect residents, rivers

Presenter: Public comments at the EWEB meeting Aug. 4 asked that megaconsumers of water and electricity—such as data centers—pay their fair share. Andrew Simrin: 

Andrew Simrin: I’m calling the Board of Commissioners to adopt large load tariffs for data centers and large energy users. We know that data centers use large amounts of power, sometimes even more than industrial users in the area.

I currently work in IT and have worked in data centers locally in the Eugene area. And I know the immense amount of power and cooling that is needed for these things.

I’m trying to stay cool right now. I don’t have air conditioning in my home. And the McKenzie River is nice and cool right now. I love that we have a healthy salmon population coming up through here, and I want to help preserve that.

And data centers will increase our overall usage of the river system for its hydroelectric power, as well as cooling and other water needs.

But it would really help those that are energy-burdened and would help the just everyday ratepayers not have to bear the burden of these megaconsumers of the power and water resources.

You know, I get my water from a rural district, as you probably know, the River Road Water District. I don’t know where I am in standing to get water. But anyway, just wanted to mention that. Thank you for the opportunity to provide input.

Commissioner John Brown: Thank you very much. The next speaker is Dylan Plummer.

Dylan Plummer: My name is Dylan Plummer. I’m here in my role as deputy director of the Sierra Club’s national Clean Heat campaign. Sierra Club is a national environmental organization with over 80,000 members and supporters in Oregon and over 10,000 members here in Eugene.

I’m testifying today to call on EWEB to take actions to protect residents and ratepayers, and to establish policies to redistribute the cost of the energy system in order to ensure that the largest users pay their fair share while reducing for lower—while reducing costs for low-income households.

In light of the boom in data center development in Oregon and the recent zoning verification requests sent to the city of Eugene inquiring about the possibility of developing a data center on Willow Creek Circle, the EWEB board must pass a resolution publicly opposing data center development in our community.

And additionally establish guardrails to ensure that any data center developers are fairly charged for the energy and water that they use, and they pay for any infrastructure upgrades required for the development.

Specifically, EWEB should look to replicate the provisions of the recent large load tariff framework approved by the Oregon Public Utilities Commission for Portland General Electric in response to the 2025 State Power Act.

These measures are critical to ensure that our community’s opposition to these facilities are made clear, and that if data centers are developed in Eugene, residential and commercial ratepayers are not unnecessarily burdened with increasing rates to pay for additional generation and transmission resources necessary to serve these facilities.

These measures are also critical to ensure that data center developers do not flock to Eugene as a haven to avoid the consumer protections required by the Power Act legislation in investor-owned utility distribution areas.

Presenter: That is public comment at the EWEB board Aug. 4.