Markets / Central WA
C&W 2026 Americas · Tertiary #9 · updated 2026-11-05
Washington: Central WA (Quincy/Wenatchee) + Seattle
Cheap hydro is fully subscribed, there is a waitlist, and the incentive was narrowed.
coolingGrid: Grant PUD, Chelan PUD, Douglas PUD (hydro); Seattle City Light / PSE
[Cushman & Wakefield, 2026 Global Data Center Market Comparison (Americas rankings) (2026-05)]
Power and the queue
- Grant PUD: 8 data center operators used about 280 aMW in 2025 (~37% of load), with about 800 MW of large-load requests in its power application queue. New large users pay for generation, transmission, and distribution. [Grant PUD: Data center FAQs (2026-11-05)]
- Chelan PUD has no moratorium and relies on its large-load policies. [Chelan PUD: Large loads (2026-11-05)]
Notable projects owners where public
No verified public item yet. This is a gap we are working on.
Regulatory posture incentives, moratoria, zoning, water, large-load rules
- SB 6231 (2026) expired or narrowed some rural data center sales-tax certificates. The refurbishment path ended Jul 1, 2026. [Washington DOR special notice: modification of rural data center sales/use tax exemption ( (2026-06-03); Moratorium Nation dataset (M. Bommarito, CC BY 4.0), current through Sep 23, 2026 (2026-09-23)]
Pending legislation and actions 0 items
None tracked.
In force / enacted 9 items
| Date | Jurisdiction | Item | Status | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-17 | Renton city | City of Renton moratorium ordinance, adopted 2026-08-17 under RCW 36.70A.390 Renton City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on large data centers on 2026-08-17, following a June 1, 2026 council motion directing staff to begin drafting it. Duration: Up to one year (365 days) from the effective date | in force | high | [https://www.rentonreporter.com/2026/08/19/renton-places-one-year-moratorium-on-data-center] |
| 2026-08-10 | Kittitas County county | Kittitas County Board of Commissioners resolution, adopted 2026-08-10, imposing an emergency six-month moratorium on acceptance/processing/review/approval of data center land-use applications in uninc Kittitas County Commissioners adopted an emergency six-month data center moratorium on 2026-08-10, then extended it another six months following a 2026-09-15 public hearing. Duration: Originally six months; extended an additional six months on/around 2026-09-1 | in force | high | [Kittitas County OKs proposal to extend data center moratorium (2026-09-16)] |
| 2026-07-07 | Federal Way city | Ordinance No. 26-1048; RCW 36.70A.390 interim zoning control Duration: 12-month citywide moratorium barring the siting, creation, or expansion of data centers and the acceptance, processing, or approval of related land-use and building-permit applications, for facilities exceeding 1 megawatt or 4,000 square feet. Preser | in force | high | [City of Federal Way (2026-07-07)] |
| 2026-06-29 | Burien city | Ordinance 905; RCW 36.70A.390 interim zoning control Duration: One-year moratorium in all city districts on accepting, processing, or approving applications to establish, expand, or change a use to a data center with capacity exceeding 20 MVA. Preserves vested rights for complete permit applications filed before | in force | high | [City of Burien (2026-06-29)] |
| 2026-06-09 | City of Seattle city | Seattle Ordinance No. 127447 (Council Bill 121214, amended), with companion Resolution 32204 (amended); adopted under the RCW 36.70A.390 interim-zoning-control procedure. Amends SMC 23.84A.008 to defi Moratorium enacted 2026-06-09; the city is using the pause and the companion Resolution 32204 working-group process to study grid, water, ratepayer, and environmental-justice impacts and to develop permanent siting/zoning rules, with reports and proposed perma | in force | high | [Legislation Detail, Council Bill 121214 / Ordinance 127447 (2026-06-09)] |
| 2026-06-09 | Seattle city | Seattle Ordinance No. 127447 (Council Bill 121214), passed by the City Council 2026-06-09 by a 3/4 vote and approved by Mayor Katie Wilson 2026-06-11; amends SMC 23.84A.008 to define 'data center' and Council unanimously adopted legislation placing a temporary freeze on new data center siting pending impact studies Duration: 365 days from the effective date of Ordinance No. 127447 (effective 2026-06-11), automatically expiring at the end of that period unle | in force | high | [Ordinance 127447 (Council Bill 121214) (2026-06-11)] |
| 2026-04-01 | Washington state | SB 6231 (2025-26) Expires or narrows certain data center sales and use tax exemption certificates, including certificates for qualifying refurbished data centers; bill reports document industry opposition and state revenue/ratepayer arguments. | enacted | high | [SB 6231 - Bill History and Status (Washington State Legislature)] |
| 2025-05-20 | Washington state | SB 5431 / SSB 5431 (2025-26) Clarified administration of data center sales and use tax exemptions, including treatment of existing employment positions for qualifying refurbishment or newly eligible facilities. | enacted | high | [SB 5431 - Bill History and Status (Washington State Legislature)] |
| 2026-03-24 | Washington state | SB 5982 (2025-26) Expands Clean Energy Transformation Act coverage to certain port districts, single-customer consumer-owned utilities, and affected market customers; committee reports describe the bill as closing data center clean-power compliance gaps. | enacted | medium | [SB 5982 - Bill History and Status (Washington State Legislature)] |
Pricing & supply snapshot directional
MW Desk estimate / directional range, Q4 2026
Asking-rate bands below are MW Desk directional estimates in USD per kW-month. They are rounded ranges, not quoted rates, and they go stale quickly.
- Retail colo (roughly 0–250 kW): $155–400/kW-mo
- Wholesale (roughly 250 kW–4 MW): $95–275/kW-mo
- Large / hyperscale blocks (roughly 4 MW+): $95–200/kW-mo
- Vacancy band: around 5–8% (moderately available)
- Commissioned inventory (directional): ~380–470 MW
- Available power (directional): ~15–40 MW
- Under construction: ~25–50 MW
- Planned pipeline: ~220–330 MW
- Absorption: modest positive absorption
- Power / timing: Mix of tight wholesale and some retail availability; large contiguous blocks still require lead time.
Blends Central WA (Quincy) and Seattle-area colocation pricing; treat as a corridor view.
Indicative only. Ranges are rounded and adjusted directional estimates, not quoted asking rates or a survey. Confirm with brokers and operators before acting. Source data ages quickly.
TJ field notes
Coming soon: TJ's on-the-ground notes on this market. Expect what the queue really looks like, which sites can actually get power, and what the brokers aren't saying.
Slot reserved for TJ's detailed market report.