Seattle has passed a year-long moratorium on the construction of new datacenters, becoming the largest US city to impose such a ban amid growing backlash against energy-intensive AI infrastructure. The city council voted unanimously in favour of the temporary measure on Tuesday.
Lawmakers framed the pause as an opportunity to draft regulations targeting electricity-hungry datacenters serving the AI sector, and to protect residents from environmental risks and rising electricity bills. Mayor Katie Wilson said the moratorium would also allow officials to assess whether datacenters are a 'good use of urban land' and potentially require developers to invest in transit and housing initiatives in exchange for permits.
The move followed reports that five proposed datacenters could consume up to a third of Seattle's current electricity demand. Local tech workers, including Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, mounted a letter-writing campaign that sent nearly 100,000 emails to lawmakers. Ben Jones of 350 Seattle noted that many tech workers organised against datacenters because AI is 'synonymous with people losing their jobs', as Amazon and Microsoft have laid off thousands of local workers while spending heavily on AI.
An amendment to the moratorium allows existing datacenters to apply for expansions requiring up to 20 megawatts of additional power during the pause. Activists worry this could undermine the ban's purpose. Lawmakers justified the amendment to differentiate between datacenters serving civic needs, such as health facilities, and those for AI.
Seattle activists are now working with groups in Spokane and Walla Walla to mount similar campaigns. Mayor Wilson said her administration will push for state-level regulation of datacenters during Washington's next legislative session.
