Washington’s hydropower has created a data center boom. Some are concerned about its future.

['Monica Nickelsburg', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] TPR: The Public's Radio 2025-08-17 09:00:59

The appetite for ever more internet-connected things and AI applications is leading to a boom in data center building across the country. Data center boomtownAn aerial view of a Microsoft data center is shown on Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Quincy, Washington. KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer (Megan Farmer | KUOW)Quincy proper is a majority hispanic agricultural community of about 7,500 people, three hours east of Seattle. KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer (Megan Farmer | KUOW)In the waiting room, Julie Pickering reflected on the benefits of having a state of the art wound care clinic closer to home. Data center field engineers install new cables on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at the Sabey data center in Quincy, Washington.