Oregon's governor Tina Kotek has directed state agencies to pause land transactions for data center projects immediately.

The pause is for unapproved requests related to easements, rights-of-way, leases, rentals, land-use permits, and sales or transfers of state-owned property for data center projects and will remain in effect through July 1, 2027, or until the Government directs otherwise.

The pause has been put in place to enable the statewide evaluation of long-term impacts associated with large-scale data center projects, including infrastructure capacity, environmental sustainability, water usage, job creation, and the effects on surrounding communities.

“Data center corporations are asking communities to absorb enormous demands on our water, energy, infrastructure, and natural resources, and we need to know what that means for Oregonians,” governor Kotek said. “I am taking this action because the state should not be moving forward with new data center projects on public land while we are still working to understand and address those impacts. Oregonians deserve a statewide approach that protects our communities, respects our natural resources, and makes sure state government is acting in the public interest.”

The Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee, convened in January by governor Kotek, will develop policy recommendations for data centers by the end of 2026 to inform future legislation.

While the government does not have the authority to enact a statewide moratorium, it can limit projects on state-owned land. The move follows Governor Kotek's decision in August to block the land sale of 32 acres at the Mill Creek Corporate Center in southeast Salem for a proposed data center project by Verrus.

Some cities in Oregon have opted to put in place temporary moratoriums on data center projects, with Hillsboro putting a 120-day moratorium in place at the end of July 2026.

In June 2025, the Oregon House of Representatives passed a bill to ensure that data centers and cryptocurrency operations cover a fair share of the costs associated with new power plants and transmission lines.