The city council approved the measure after five 'mystery' projects raised concerns among residents and city leaders.
The Seattle city council approved a one-year moratorium on new data centers after the city's power company flagged five proposed projects that would have required over one-third of the city's power capacity, reports Wyatt Fischer in The Cool Down.
"In a city with about 1 gigawatt of capacity, those projects would have required roughly 369 megawatts combined, raising concern among city officials and residents," Fischer explains.
According to the article, "The measure pauses development of data centers larger than about 20 megawatts for one year, with the city able to extend the moratorium for another six months."
A separate ordinance directs city staff to study the potential impacts of data centers on power, water, land use, employment and public health.
Read the full story: Seattle bans large data centers for a year after five mystery projects target strained grid
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