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Avista Corporation, the Spokane-based utility, hit the brakes on a massive data center energy deal after residents made it clear they weren’t interested in footing the bill. The company announced on June 12 that it would pause negotiations on an energy service request for a proposed 500 MW data center project, citing community opposition and stakeholder feedback.
Here’s the thing: 500 MW is not a modest ask. That amount of power would have exceeded half of Spokane County’s entire residential and commercial energy consumption.
What exactly happened
An unnamed developer had entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Avista, laying out a phased approach to scaling the facility’s energy draw. The plan called for starting at 125 MW by 2029 and ramping up to a maximum of 500 MW by 2032.
Neither the developer’s identity nor the specific project location has been disclosed publicly. What has been disclosed, loudly and repeatedly, is the community’s displeasure.
Residents raised a laundry list of concerns that reads like a greatest hits album of data center opposition: potential rises in electricity rates, environmental strain on the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, noise pollution from operations, reliance on diesel backup generators, and a perceived lack of local regulatory oversight.
The backlash wasn’t limited to town hall grumbling. The Spokane City Council moved to introduce a one-year moratorium on new data center permits, buying time to develop regulatory frameworks that don’t currently exist.
Avista CEO Heather Rosentrater addressed the concerns directly, emphasizing that feedback from the public is taken seriously. She confirmed that existing customers would not shoulder the financial burdens from any new large energy demands related to the data center project.
Avista assured that existing customers will not bear the costs associated with new large loads, according to CEO Heather Rosentrater.
The water problem nobody wants to talk about
Data centers require enormous quantities of water for cooling systems, and in Spokane, the water source in question is the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer — the primary drinking water source for the region.
Then there’s the diesel backup generator question. Data centers need uninterruptible power, which typically means rows of diesel generators ready to kick in during outages, a prospect that raised additional environmental concerns among community members.
Why this matters beyond Spokane
Avista’s pause is significant because it demonstrates that community opposition can actually slow or stop these projects, even when there’s a willing utility and an eager developer at the table. The non-binding nature of the MOU made it easier to walk away, but the message is clear: social license matters.
The Spokane City Council’s proposed one-year moratorium is another signal worth watching. If more municipalities adopt similar cooling-off periods, the pipeline of approved data center projects could narrow significantly.
Regulatory frameworks for data center siting and energy allocation are essentially being written in real time. Communities that felt blindsided by the scale of recent proposals are demanding a seat at the table, meaning longer timelines and higher compliance costs for developers.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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