Clackamas County commissioners are considering their moratorium in that legal environment — not in a vacuum. Gartner projects worldwide data center power demand will rise 26% in 2026, reaching 133 gigawatts, with the U.S. accounting for a significant portion of the global total. Why the timing is not accidentalA recent report from the International Data Center Authority found that data centers now consume about 6% of U.S. electricity. The report noted that significant community and political pushback tends to begin once national data center consumption crosses the 5% threshold. It does not, on its own, resolve the underlying question of whether Clackamas County wants to be a data center hub, and under what terms.