Data Center Services

NWCPUD has been successfully serving data center customers since 2005, delivering 20+ years of reliable service while maintaining some of the lowest electric rates in Oregon, the Northwest, and the nation. Our experience includes a long-term partnership with one of the world’s largest technology companies, powering their regional data center operations. We’ve developed proven practices that protect all customer classes while supporting responsible economic growth in our community. Our approach—balancing large load service with customer protection—has drawn attention from utilities nationwide seeking to replicate similar achievements.

What Are Data Centers?

Data centers are facilities that house high-powered computer servers used for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data storage, and digital infrastructure. These facilities operate 24/7 to support services like web searches, streaming video, smartphone applications, and business computing needs. Data centers require stable, high-volume electricity and sophisticated cooling systems to manage the heat generated by continuous server operations.

Why Our Region

Our region attracts data center interest because of several key advantages:

• Local governance and responsive decision-making
• Robust transmission infrastructure
• Electricity rates among the lowest in Oregon, the Northwest, and the nation
• Low humidity in eastern Oregon favorable for data center cooling

How We Protect Our Customers

Community affordability and reliability come first. NWCPUD maintains equitable rate classes that ensure each customer pays for what they use and what it costs to serve them. Our rates are set by a locally elected Board of Directors, who live and work in the community we serve, and reflect the true cost of service for each rate class.

No Cross-Subsidization

New loads are not subsidized by the existing customer base. When a very large customer seeks to connect, we run detailed engineering and cost studies and recover 100% of infrastructure upgrade costs directly from that customer through dedicated contracts. Residential and small business customers never subsidize industrial load interconnections or growth they didn’t cause.

Comprehensive Risk Management

Before committing to serve any large load, we work closely with local partners on comprehensive project evaluations, ensuring our infrastructure planning aligns with community priorities for reliability and resource management. We ensure that the cost of any new infrastructure is assigned directly to the project or customer class requesting the capacity thus minimizing risk exposure to existing customers and avoiding stranded assets. System upgrades that benefit all customers—such as transmission improvements that enhance overall grid reliability—are allocated to all customer classes based on electrical demand.

We carefully manage several key risks to protect NWCPUD’s existing customer-owners:

• Stranded asset risk: Infrastructure built for projects that fail or scale down could leave costs with existing customers
• Financial concentration risk: When one customer represents a disproportionate share of utility revenue, it creates financial vulnerability for the utility
• Grid reliability compliance: Large loads must meet North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards (national grid reliability requirements) to ensure system stability

Through our comprehensive contract requirements, cost assignment principles, and thorough evaluation processes, we proactively address each of these risks before committing to serve any large load.

Reliable Power Supply

Our residential and commercial power supply is anchored by the Federal Columbia River Power System, which provides the stable foundation for our overall service. For large industrial loads like data centers, we procure power separately through market purchases and partnerships as described below, keeping these costs distinct from our base customer rates.

Community Benefits

Data centers provide significant community benefits:

• Properties that were undeveloped dirt fields for decades are now developed and provide value to the community
• Property taxes without requiring extensive city services
• Revenue growth enabling utility investments in new substations, transmission lines, advanced metering infrastructure, and other projects
• Economic development and employment opportunities

Resource Requirements

Data centers have substantial resource needs:

• Large electricity demand: typically 100-300 megawatts per site, equivalent to powering a small city
• Continuous operation: 24/7/365 reliability requirements
• Cooling systems: can require significant water and energy resources for temperature management
• Dedicated infrastructure: new substations, transmission lines, and system upgrades

Where We Get Their Power

Data center power requirements are met through strategic procurement approaches that deliver firm, reliable power 8,760-hours-per-year (24/7/365), that are separate from our base residential and commercial supply, including:

• Market purchases through wholesale electricity markets
• Innovative power marketing partnerships with sophisticated energy providers
• Long-term power purchase agreements with energy developers for sustained, reliable supply

Our Decision-Making Process

As a consumer-owned utility, we are governed by a locally elected Board of Directors accountable to our community. This local governance structure ensures that decisions about serving large loads are made transparently and in the best interests of our customer-owners.

Thorough Evaluation

We move at the speed of good planning, not headlines. Each large load proposal undergoes comprehensive analysis including detailed engineering studies, cost impact assessments, and transmission grid reliability evaluations. We collaborate with our local government partners who conduct their own evaluations, including siting and water resource planning, to understand the full community impact. And when necessary, we hire outside engineering resources – at a cost assigned to the customer requesting service.

Cost Assignment Principles

If a project needs firm power or creates new capacity requirements, those costs are assigned directly to the customer requesting access. This includes the full cost of engineering, substations, transmission upgrades, transformers, and any system reinforcements needed to serve the new load. Projects must demonstrate long-term financial feasibility and provide appropriate credit assurances.

Contractual Requirements

Our service agreements for large loads include:

• Minimum power purchase commitments based on customer forecasts
• Coordinated connection timing and scheduling
• Credit and collateral requirements
• Continuous power delivery requirements (24/7/365)
• Upfront payment or security for infrastructure costs

NWCPUD Data Center Service Best Practices

The following checklist outlines NWCPUD’s established practices for serving data center customers while protecting existing ratepayers. These practices align with industry recommendations from the American Public Power Association and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.