The Seattle City Council unanimously approved an emergency moratorium on June 9, 2026, halting the development of large-scale data centers across the city.
The Seattle City Council Blog (.gov) reported that in April 2026, four different companies approached Seattle City Light with proposals for five large-scale centers.
The resolution demands that future applicants prove their operations will not negatively degrade the quality of life or the financial security of Seattle’s existing residential and small-business community.
These are not standard warehouses for emails; they are industrial-scale processing plants.
Projects that were in the early stages of discussion with Seattle City Light are effectively stalled.
Seattle City Council unanimously bans new mega data centers to study impacts on electrical grids, water usage, and resident utility rates.