A Trip Through the Fields of Hillsboro
In late June, Claire Block (photos) and I did a self-guided auto tour of some of the data centers in Hillsboro. Here’s what we saw:
Summer in Oregon is a time of wildflowers in abundance, and crops growing toward harvest. The fields of Hillsboro, mostly flat, sometimes rolling toward woodlots of tall Douglas Fir, show their fertility in soft and vivid colors.
Among the fields, large buildings, finished or under construction, loom incongruously in the formerly agricultural landscape. Forty-two data centers in Hillsboro already occupy land, consume water and electricity, and emit noise and greenhouse gas emissions — as do the approximately 88 other data centers in Oregon.
What happens inside these huge (on average, 100,000 square feet) buildings? Unlike other commercial establishments, flaunting names, logos, and colors, data centers present white, windowless walls, a single unfamiliar corporate name on each building. Wide setbacks from the street and secure fences keep curious would-be visitors from getting a closer view. We know from reports and videos, like this one, that data centers include long rows of data servers, rivers of cables, electrical systems, backup generators, and continuously operating cooling infrastructure. The electricity consumed by data centers turns into heat, which is cooled by fans, compressors, pumps – which need their own electricity. Once the servers are turned on, they must and do operate 24/7, year-round. The “no downtime” requirement means that redundancy of machines and systems are needed to prevent data loss, requiring in turn more space, more power, more heat, more cooling.
Food crops, with wheat being among the most iconic, also need land and water, fuel and other energy to be harvested and processed. Unlike data centers, they do not emit noise or gasses. In summer, their golden drooping kernels, heavy with what will become flour for bread and other foods, are a reassuring sight.
Western Oregon’s small farms are distinctive for their beautiful mix of farm fields and woodlots. Oregonians face choices in how we use the land and water in our state, what to preserve, how to develop. Who will benefit, who will lose, from those choices? The window of time to express our views to the Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee is short.
The DCAC July 31st meeting agenda, complete with speaker details, is posted on the DCAC website. The “Additional Considerations” agenda includes presentations and discussions on: air quality and greenhouse gas emissions; effects on school funding;
economy and workforce impacts. Public comment begins at 2:15 pm. Register here to sign up to listen to presentations and give comments.
Will a new data center “grow” on this land (see below)? And how many more?
