On Oct. 21, the Union Bulletin broke the news that the Port of Walla Walla Commissioners were considering selling 500 acres of land in the Wallula Gap Business Park to Advance Phase LLC for $32 million. The corporation plans to construct 16 data centers, investing $4.8 billion into the project. Though the news came as a shock to members of the public, Commissioners have been in negotiation with Advance Phase for a year, operating under the code name “Project Tree.”
The Wallula Gap Business Park is located between the Wallula Junction and the Ainsworth Junction, where the Walla Walla and Snake Rivers respectively flow into the Columbia River. This point of confluence is highly significant to Walla Walla, Cayuse and Nez Perce Tribes and holds a rich cultural history. Parts of Wallula have been protected from development, but the Business Park has been used for agricultural and industrial purposes for the last several decades.
If completed, the project would increase Walla Walla County’s tax base from about $10 billion to nearly $15 billion. It would also create an influx of construction jobs and several hundred long-term jobs once the facilities are built, according to the Commissioners. However, the proposal also raises major concerns about the resources needed to operate the data centers’ massive physical infrastructure.
The Port Commissioners are currently under a nondisclosure agreement with the corporation behind Advance Phase, though they have confirmed it is an American company listed in the top 30 of the Fortune 500 list, likely either Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft or Meta Platforms (Facebook) – all companies heavily invested in AI.
The connection between AI and data centers may seem nebulous to those of us outside the world of Silicon Valley. ChatGPT writing an email or Google answering a question with an AI overview can seem like a process that’s going on “in the computer” or “in the cloud.” However, AI is supported by a massive physical infrastructure in the form of data centers: warehouses full of servers and IT equipment that receive, store and send data. Though data centers have always been the physical backbone of the internet, advances in AI require a major expansion to the current data center capacity. AI consumes far more computational resources than most digital tools because it relies on large datasets for training and employs complex algorithms.
Concerns about the data centers’ electricity and water usage were a top priority for many of the community members present at the Port Commission meeting on Oct. 24.
The Port has made it clear that it will not be responsible for supplying electrical infrastructure, power and water rights, natural gas or telecommunications infrastructure to the company.
“They have to bring those to this project to make it happen,” Paul Gerola, Economic Development Director for the Port Commission, said.
Given Advance Phase is investing $32 million in the real estate transaction alone, the corporation likely feels confident in its ability to secure those needs.
Goldman Sachs estimated that data center power demand will increase 160 percent by 2030. Washington’s existing hydropower network, which generates the majority of the state’s electricity, is already at capacity and likely cannot support 16 new data centers.
Recent nuclear project proposals from Google, Amazon and Meta indicate corporations are realizing they will need to start generating their own electricity to keep pace with their rapidly-expanding data center infrastructure. Amazon recently reached a deal with Energy Northwest to build small modular reactors that rely on nuclear technology. The “initial feasibility phase” is sited for Richland, Washington, fewer than 20 miles from the infamous Hanford Nuclear Site. Though Commissioner Amy Schwab acknowledged some hesitation around nuclear energy, she expressed her belief that corporations like the one behind Advance Phase will provide the path to a clean energy future.
“There have been pieces in the paper I’ve seen in the last week about investments from these hyperscalers – the big data guys – investing in the technology for small modular nuclear reactors…I’m looking at these types of companies as really holding the promise for how we get to a clean future,” Schwab said.
Though Commissioners repeatedly expressed their faith that this technology has the potential to change the world for the better, some community members present at the meeting expressed their hesitation. Whitman Visiting Assistant Professor Stan Thayne shared his thoughts on the matter.
“I’m concerned to hear large industrial projects depicted as sustainable…It makes me a little uncomfortable to think we’ll engineer our way out of our problems with these big projects,” Thayne said.
Water consumption was also a primary concern brought up by residents at the meeting. Data centers require massive amounts of cold water to keep hardware from overheating. NPR found that the average mid-size data center uses about 300,000 gallons of water per day. By this estimate, the 16 data centers could use 4.8 million gallons per day. There is minimal public data available as to where that water goes once it is used for cooling; some of it will likely be evaporated off, meaning it will never directly return to the aquifer, and some may become waste water that could potentially be treated and returned to the system. Though Advance Phase will not receive any water rights from the Port, the corporation will likely aim to acquire water rights to the Columbia River from another source, given the site’s location.
A local resident at the meeting referenced expressed her concern that Google’s data center in the Dalles, Oregon has been the subject of significant backlash due to its water consumption. An investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive found that Google’s water consumption has increased by threefold since 2017. In 2021, Google was responsible for 29 percent of the city’s water consumption.
Whitman Professor Emeritus Bob Carson was in attendance at the meeting and also expressed his concern regarding the data centers’ impact on the Columbia River Basin.
“It’s very important that we don’t lower the water table. It’s very important that they don’t take water and use it to cool these computers and send it back hotter than it is right now, because the Columbia River already exceeds 70 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the threshold for salmon,” Carson said.
Port Commissioner Ron Dunning pushed back against these water consumption concerns, citing his long career in irrigation.
“I’ve been to a lot of meetings about water usage…It’s not a great amount of water in the irrigation world,” Dunning said.
Though Dunning is correct that farms use far more water than data centers, this comparison begs the question of necessity, especially as the region faces historic drought. Carson posed this question at the meeting.
“Is there really a need for these things? Most people would say ‘Yes, we’ve got AI coming up and we think, as a world, that we’re going to need more and more storage of data.’ But what if every community in the United States said ‘No, we really don’t want these things, we gotta figure something else out,’” Carson said.
Associate Professor of Art History, Matt Reynolds, also expressed concern over the rapid development of AI and the lack of regulation surrounding its expansion.
“Where is the conversation happening over the ethics of AI? I’m sure there are many things that will improve our lives through AI, [but] I’m also really scared about the technology. Where are the guardrails to the development of this technology?” Reynolds said.
The rapid infiltration of AI into our everyday lives has drawn a line in the sand between those who believe this technology will further expedite the climate crisis and those who believe it will lead us out of it. Responses from the Commissioners imply they believe the latter.
“It’s more than just creating the capacity for us to upload our latest cute pet pictures. It really is about the capacity that enables two Nobel Prize winning efforts that are reliant on our increased computing capacity,” Schwab said.
Commissioner Kip Kelly expressed his belief that the advancements made by AI will justify its consumption.
“I believe that there is a strong probability that some of the world’s most advanced climate models are being run on this company’s servers. Though resource intensive, these data centers may very well help solve our most pressing needs around the climate and other 21st century issues,” Kelly said.
Despite my own cynicism regarding AI, I have to share the Commissioners’ hope that something good will come of it. However, it’s worth noting that one of the Nobel Prize winners Schwab referenced, Geoffrey Hinton, has expressed his deep fears about AI, saying it could “mean the end of people.”
Many of the community members who attended the Port Commissioners’ meeting were there to share their concerns, but some were highly supportive of the project, focusing on the tax revenue and jobs it would create.
“For our community to thrive we need good jobs; we need good schools. …I encourage the Port Commissioners to approve this sale,” one resident said.
The Commissioners further emphasized the positive impact this project would have on the county.
“To me this is a generational opportunity that the Port has to make an impact. On 0.006 percent of the County’s land, we can increase the [tax] value by 50 percent. If that’s not the highest and best use of that 500 acres, I gotta know what is,” Kelly said. “Social services of all kinds will get that needed injection.”
“If we were to say no here, it doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t happen, it would just mean that our County would not be able to take advantage of the desperately needed revenue streams that a project like this brings,” Schwab said.
Ultimately, the Port Commission’s primary mission is to create and retain jobs and expand the region’s tax base. They believe this project will handedly fulfill both of those goals. Their vote on Oct. 24 to move forward with the Letter of Intent is one small step in a process that will take years before construction can even begin.
“Our role as Port Commissioners is very small in the grand scheme of the entire puzzle that has to be put together to bring this to fruition,” Kelly said. “So we’re not going to pretend to be hydrologists, cultural resource experts, geotechnical experts and the like. Those experts will get a chance to weigh in at the SEPA phase …the CTUIR will be brought into the project…[and] the Department of Ecology has to be satisfied at the end of the day with both the water usage and the waste water dispersal.”
Those against the project can be assured that Advance Phase has countless more hoops to jump through before breaking ground on construction.
Those in favor of the project will be happy to know that Commissioners negotiated a deal that provides zero concessions or incentives to Advance Phase, though the company will likely receive a major tax break at the state level. If the project does not move forward, the Port will have the right, but not the obligation, to buy the property back for half the original purchase price.
Before voting on the motion to execute the Letter of Intent and the purchase and sale agreement between the Port Commission and Advance Phase LLC, Schwab thanked community members for sharing their thoughts.
“The outpouring of concern, input and involvement was reassuring that folks are paying attention. You are asking really great questions and highlighting the sorts of concerns that this body takes seriously…and explores deeply in making these decisions,” Schwab said.
The motion passed unanimously.
