Portland OR data center NDA resolution (2026)

Portland, Ore. (Multnomah County) — RESOLUTION adopted UNANIMOUSLY by the City Council on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2026, (a) URGING city administrators NOT TO SIGN NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS with prospective data center developers and (b) directing the city to EXPLORE A MORATORIUM on data centers. THE INSTRUMENT IS HORTATORY AND THAT IS THE CENTRAL QUALIFICATION ON THIS ENTRY. The verb reported is 'URGE'; the measure is a RESOLUTION, not an ordinance; and nothing in the located source indicates it binds staff or creates any consequence for signing an NDA. `strength` is recorded as LIMITED for that reason. COMPARE THE OREGON PAIR DIRECTLY, because they arrived within forty-eight hours of each other and are NOT equivalent: Salem OR 120-day data center moratorium (Res. 2026-40) records SALEM'S council on 2026-09-14 directing staff to require notification of ALL NDAs and SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITING NDAs related to data center developments — a prohibition. PORTLAND URGES; SALEM PROHIBITS. A reader comparing the two should not treat Oregon as having a uniform rule. WHY NDA REGULATION IS A PROTECTION AT ALL, which is the analytically useful part: a non-disclosure agreement executed by municipal staff at the outset of a data center negotiation governs what the governing body and the public may learn about peak electrical demand, water consumption, tax abatement, ratepayer cost allocation and employment commitments DURING THE PERIOD WHEN THOSE TERMS REMAIN NEGOTIABLE. By the time an NDA lapses or a project is announced, the material decisions are effectively settled and the land-use process that follows is constrained by commitments the public never saw. NDA CONTROLS THEREFORE OPERATE UPSTREAM OF EVERY ZONING, MORATORIUM AND SETBACK INSTRUMENT IN THIS DATASET. The indexed cohort is small: Salem OR 120-day data center moratorium (Res. 2026-40), Gallatin TN 60-day data center application pause (2026), and this entry; an unindexed Piqua OH NDA matter is queued. SPONSOR'S STATEMENT, Councilmember TIFFANY KOYAMA LANE: 'This resolution at its core is about responsible, good governance, protecting how decisions get made in our city. It's about transparency, and it's also about building and public trust'; and 'This resolution is a first step… and it's an immediate step that we can take today.' THE SECOND QUOTATION IS AN EXPRESS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE MEASURE'S LIMITED REACH and is recorded as such. OREGON CONTEXT: the source states Portland is 'the latest in a series of Oregon jurisdictions to take steps to rein in the data center industry,' citing local concerns about POWER CONSUMPTION, LAND USE, SECRECY and other environmental impacts. Indexed Oregon measures: Woodburn OR 120-day data center moratorium (2026) (120-day pause on water-capacity grounds), Salem OR 120-day data center moratorium (Res. 2026-40), plus Gov. Kotek's Data Center Advisory Committee (deferred in the ledger; its final recommendations were deferred past the November election) and Eugene, where 72 people signed up for public comment but the council has not acted. POLITICAL CONTEXT RECORDED: a NEW POLL FINDS TWO-THIRDS OF OREGON VOTERS WANT A MORATORIUM on new data centers, and the issue features in the contest between GOV. TINA KOTEK and her Republican challenger. THE POLL'S SPONSOR, SAMPLE AND DATES ARE NOT GIVEN. NOT OBTAINED: the resolution number, the second sponsor's name, the vote count beyond 'unanimously', whether the 'explore a moratorium' direction carries a reporting deadline, and whether the NDA language reaches agreements already in force.