Washington

1) Incentive programs

Sales/use tax exemptions (primary state incentives)

The July 2026 preliminary JLARC review found that the urban preference had been used by three owners for four refurbishment certificates and by tenants for six certificates, but had produced no new urban data center. JLARC therefore recommended allowing the preference to expire on schedule; this is a recommendation, not a further statutory change. Washington JLARC, 2026-07

Property tax and other incentives

• Washington’s dedicated data center incentives remain sales/use-tax exemptions; no dedicated state data-center property-tax abatement was identified in the DOR workgroup materials reviewed. Washington Department of Revenue, 2025-12-01
• DOR’s workgroup materials note that the sales/use-tax exemptions are not available in Thurston, Kitsap, Whatcom, Clark, Benton, or Spokane counties. Washington Department of Revenue, 2025-12-01

2) Restrictions and moratoriums

Zoning and land-use restrictions (local)

• Local zoning remains the main siting-control channel. West Richland, for example, amended its municipal code in 2025 to allow data centers in urban transition and light industrial zones after a property-owner request, illustrating local control over land-use permissions. Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, 2025-03-13
• Arlington made its prohibition explicit. On June 15, the city amended its permissible-use code to add a definition and expressly exclude data centers in every zone; officials said the use was already not permitted, but public concern over the 1.2-million-square-foot Project Cascade prompted clarification. Amazon subsequently identified Project Cascade as an operations facility rather than a data center, and the June 15 interlocal agreement did not approve the project or any permit. HeraldNet, 2026-06-23

Seattle moratorium and policy framework

• Seattle adopted a one-year local moratorium in June 2026. On June 9, 2026, the Seattle City Council unanimously adopted emergency data-center legislation that freezes new large data-center siting while the city studies electrical-grid capacity, water use, utility rates, land use, local jobs, and public health. Seattle City Council, 2026-06-09
• Council Bill 121214 defines a covered “data center” as a facility used primarily for digital-data processing/storage with capacity above 20 MVA, generally requiring uninterruptible power and cooling/backup-power infrastructure; it bars filing, acceptance, processing, or approval of applications to establish or expand covered data centers in all zones for 365 days from the ordinance’s effective date, with potential six-month renewals. Seattle City Clerk Legistar, 2026-06-09
• The Seattle ordinance excludes applications to expand an operating facility by no more than 20 MVA, which preserves a limited pathway for smaller existing facilities while pausing new or larger projects. Seattle City Clerk Legistar, 2026-06-09
• The local policy trigger was five large Seattle proposals from four companies, with a combined maximum demand of 369 MW, which the council release described as enough electricity to power about 300,000 homes. Seattle City Council, 2026-06-09
• That 369 MW figure is the original April pipeline, not the surviving pipeline at enactment: by May 1, an unidentified developer and Sabey had withdrawn two requests, including Sabey’s 68 MW Tukwila-campus expansion, leaving Equinix and Prologis with three requests totaling 249 MW. Government Technology/The Seattle Times, 2026-05-01

Environmental and operational constraints

• Ecology continues to maintain a data-center air-permitting page for data centers regulated or reviewed by Ecology, including Notice of Construction permit materials and health-impact-review materials by city/operator. Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-06-10
• Regional environmental opposition became more organized. Columbia Riverkeeper’s February 26 report identified more than 100 operating or proposed campuses in 12 Columbia River counties in Washington and Oregon, estimated up to 4 GW of combined capacity, and called for a moratorium, public energy/water disclosure, new renewable supply, separate rate classes, and project-specific environmental review. These are the advocacy organization’s estimates and policy positions, not state findings. Columbia Riverkeeper, 2026-02-26
• A new in-period permitting development is Sabey Intergate’s Quincy permit number 26AQ-E016: Ecology posted the Notice of Construction approval order and technical support document dated April 6, 2026, plus a March 2026 response to comments and a 2025 Tier 2 health-impact recommendation. Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-04-06; Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-03
• On July 7, Ecology proposed approving VoltaGrid’s Quincy air-permit application for 14 prime-power natural-gas generators totaling 30 MW, with controls for nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds; the comment period remained open through August 13. The generation is part of the temporary on-site supply arrangement for Vantage’s Quincy data-center campus approved for contracting by Grant PUD in January. Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-07-07; Grant PUD, 2026-01-27
• Data centers that trigger Washington toxic-air-pollutant thresholds can require a second-tier review with a health impact assessment before air-permit approval. Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-06-10

Moratoriums

• No statewide Washington data-center construction moratorium was enacted during the 2026 regular session; the statewide data-center legislation that passed was ESSB 6231, a tax-exemption rollback, while the broader large-load/data-center regulatory bill died. Washington Legislature, 2026-07-17; Washington Legislature, 2026-07-17
• Skagit County: On June 1, commissioners imposed a six-month moratorium in unincorporated Skagit County on facilities larger than 2,000 square feet or with anticipated load of at least 2 MW. The county cited farmland, fisheries, natural hazards, and limited summer water; its July 14 hearing occurred while the pause remained in force. Skagit County, 2026-06-01; KIRO 7, 2026-07-14
• Snohomish County: Emergency Ordinance 26-026 was approved unanimously on June 24, creating a six-month moratorium on accepting or processing applications to establish or expand data centers in unincorporated Snohomish County while permanent siting rules are developed. Snohomish County Council, 2026-06-24; Snohomish County Tribune, 2026-06-29
• Spokane: The City Council adopted Ordinance C36887 on June 22, immediately pausing new computer-data-center building permits citywide for one year and directing the Plan Commission and Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board to create an impact-review and policy framework; a public hearing was scheduled for July 22. City of Spokane, 2026-06-23
• Marysville: On July 13, the City Council unanimously adopted a six-month moratorium on facilities whose principal use is managing or transmitting digital data, excluding incidental server use. The city will use the pause to complete water/sewer plans and rate studies intended to keep project costs from shifting to other customers. HeraldNet, 2026-07-15

3) Local governance and preemption

• Washington’s state incentives do not preempt local land-use control; the 2026 actions in Seattle, Skagit County, Snohomish County, Spokane, Marysville, and Arlington demonstrate that cities and counties continue to decide where facilities are allowed, paused, or excluded through zoning and permitting. Seattle City Clerk, 2026-06-11; Skagit County, 2026-06-01; Snohomish County Council, 2026-06-24; City of Spokane, 2026-06-23; HeraldNet, 2026-07-15
• Air regulation is split between Ecology and local clean air agencies depending on location, so environmental review remains partly state and partly regional/local. Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-06-10
• Seattle’s 2026 ordinance also pairs the moratorium with a work plan and public hearing requirement, making local policy analysis and public testimony part of the next regulatory step. Seattle City Clerk Legistar, 2026-06-09

4) Legislative activity (2024-2026)

• SSB 5982 / Chapter 181 (2026) enacted. Governor Ferguson signed SSB 5982 on March 24 and it took effect June 11. The law brings electricity-distributing port districts and nonresidential consumers that self-generate electricity or buy from an entity not subject to the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) within CETA’s clean-electricity and reporting framework; de minimis fossil generation used only for emergency backup is excluded. WUTC must adopt reporting rules and enforce affected market-customer compliance. The law is not limited to data centers, but it closes the behind-the-meter/direct-supply pathway that legislators and the Data Center Workgroup had identified as a potential data-center CETA gap. Washington Legislature, 2026-03-24; Washington Final Bill Report, 2026-03-24; Washington House Bill Report, 2026-02-19
• HB 2245, the House companion to SSB 5982, returned to House Rules without passage on February 19; its policy was enacted through SSB 5982. Washington Legislature, 2026-02-19
• ESSB 6231 / Chapter 266 (2026) enacted. The Legislature passed ESSB 6231 in March 2026, and Governor Ferguson signed it April 1, 2026; the Legislature bill page lists current status as “C 266 L 26” and the session law states an effective date of June 11, 2026 except sections 2 and 3, which take effect July 1, 2026. Washington Legislature, accessed 2026-07-17; Washington Session Laws, 2026-04-01
• ESSB 6231 narrows, rather than repeals, Washington’s data-center tax incentives: it taxes replacement server equipment going forward and ends the refurbishment route, while preserving the new-construction/original-equipment exemption structure. Washington Department of Revenue, 2026-06-03; Washington Department of Revenue, 2026-06-04
• HB 2515 / SB 6171 died. HB 2515 passed the House 51-41 on February 14 and reached Senate Ways & Means, but no action was taken there and it returned to House Rules on March 12. Its final Senate committee version would have required utility tariffs or policies for emerging large energy-use facilities above 20 MW, annual energy/water/emissions reports, utility load forecasts, and separate cost treatment; it also incorporated a proposed Spokane-area new-construction exemption. SB 6171, the companion, stopped in Senate Ways & Means. None of those provisions became law. Washington Legislature, 2026-07-17; Washington Senate Bill Report, 2026-02-27; Washington Legislature, 2026-07-17
• Other tax bills died. HB 2655, which would have created a new-construction sales/use-tax exemption for a county east of the Cascades bordering another state with at least 500,000 residents (effectively Spokane County), received a February 6 hearing but remained in House Finance. HB 2502, which would have removed the local portion of the rural data-center exemption, also remained in House Finance. HB 2708, the House companion to SB 6231, did not advance, but its policy was enacted through ESSB 6231. Washington Legislature, 2026-07-17; Washington Legislature, 2026-07-17; Washington Legislature, 2026-07-17
• Executive Order 25-05 and the Data Center Workgroup remain the policy backdrop. Governor Ferguson created the Data Center Workgroup in February 2025 to evaluate data-center impacts on the economy, tax revenue, energy use, and environment. As of July 17, DOR still said its December 1, 2025 report was preliminary and the final report would not be released until tribal consultation was complete. Governor Bob Ferguson, 2025-02-04; Washington Department of Revenue, 2026-07-17

5) Notable projects and operators

• Ecology’s permitting page continues to show a large operating and permitting base in Quincy and the Wenatchee/East Wenatchee area, with operators including Microsoft, CyrusOne, NTT Data, Oath/Yahoo, Sabey, Vantage, H5, Actapio, VMware, T-Mobile, Charter, Blackrock/Costco, and others. Washington Department of Ecology, 2026-06-10
• Chelan County construction and land-use status: Chelan PUD’s current large-load page says the county’s first large-scale data center, Microsoft’s Malaga campus, is preparing for operation; the authorized campus demand is up to 288 MW, with Microsoft responsible for the Jumpoff Ridge substation and interconnection costs. Separately, Sabey bought about 80 acres in Malaga in 2025 for a planned campus, and an April 29 report documented removal of the site’s cherry orchard and local concern about replacing agricultural land and jobs. No current public investment total or MW figure was identified for Sabey’s proposal. Chelan PUD, 2026-07-17; Chelan PUD, 2025-06-04; The Seattle Times/The Spokesman-Review, 2026-04-29
• Seattle’s original five-project, 369 MW City Light inquiry pipeline fell to three projects and 249 MW after two May withdrawals. Separate preliminary concepts then surfaced for a six-story Digital Realty facility at 301 Virginia Street and a four-story, up-to-20 MW facility at 3625 First Avenue South; neither source disclosed an investment amount, and both remained conceptual or in due diligence rather than approved construction projects. Government Technology/The Seattle Times, 2026-05-01; Data Center Dynamics, 2026-06-05; Data Center Dynamics, 2026-06-24
• Avista’s proposed unnamed Washington data center was initially described as 125 MW in 2029 with a pathway to 500 MW by 2032, with no investment amount or site disclosed. On June 12, Avista paused the energy-service negotiations in response to stakeholder concern and said broader government, regulatory, and community alignment was needed; no final service agreement was before WUTC as of July 17. SEC, 2026-06-02; Avista/SEC, 2026-06-12

Source URLs (selected)

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=6231&Initiative=false&Year=2025
https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/6231-S.SL.htm
https://dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/special-notices/modification-sales-and-use-tax-exemption-rural-data-centers
https://www.utc.wa.gov/news/2026/utc-host-technical-conference-large-energy-loads-april-27
https://council.seattle.gov/2026/06/09/city-council-passes-emergency-data-center-moratorium-and-policy-framework/
https://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?FullText=1&GUID=86F14A6D-9247-4BB5-839E-0A26937BFD3C&ID=8032163
https://ecology.wa.gov/air-climate/air-quality/data-centers
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/104918/000119312526253795/ava-20260529.htm