‘Make sure the people that live around it get some love’: Gee and Ursula say WA data centers must pay their way

Washington lawmakers are expected to take up new rules for large data centers next session. KIRO hosts Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin said communities near those projects need protections before they’re built.

Democrats will start the session with their first supermajority in the state House in nearly a century. Regulating data centers is expected to be one of their priorities.

Communities across Washington have raised concerns about how much electricity and water data centers use, along with noise, pollution, and higher utility bills. Ursula said at least six Washington cities and six counties have paused new data center development. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said he expects lawmakers to pass new regulations next year.

State Rep. Beth Doglio plans to try again

State Rep. Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, sponsored a major data center bill last session, but it failed. Doglio blamed pressure from the data center industry, according to The Washington State Standard.

She plans to bring the bill back in January. Doglio wants data centers to pay more for their electricity and to cut back on power when the grid is strained. She also wants more transparency about who is behind these projects, including a ban on local officials signing nondisclosure agreements with developers.

That issue came up in Walla Walla. Amazon Web Services bought about 500 acres in a business park there in 2024, but the Port of Walla Walla didn’t publicly name Amazon as the buyer until this February, according to the Standard.

Gee: ‘History has a weird way of repeating itself’

Gee said he has heard promises like this before. He pointed to casinos and highways that were supposed to make neighborhoods better.

“For generations, you have been told, or some have been told, ‘Hey, this in your neighborhood will make things better,’” Gee said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “And time and time and time again, it does the opposite. It makes others better. It makes others richer.”

He noted that cities and counties are pausing data centers, not banning them, and said he expects them to be built eventually. Before that happens, he wants guarantees that nearby residents won’t pay more for water and will get jobs.

He also questioned putting data centers in neighborhoods when AI is already expected to cost people jobs.

“Let’s just go off what has happened in the past and see where those highways going through neighborhoods and cities all over the country, what neighborhoods those were in,” Gee said. “Learn from that, and let’s not do that again. And make sure when these data centers show up, make sure the people that live around it get some love.”

Gee also joked that tech companies could make it up to neighbors by paying off their mortgages.

“You guys want an Oprah? You ought to come through,” he said.

Ursula: ‘Not giving big tech just a blank check’

Ursula said she supports innovation and expects data centers to keep coming. She praised communities for pushing back and demanding answers.

She said she was disturbed that nearby residents didn’t know Amazon was behind the land purchase.

“How can people who live in those communities have any say in the decisions if they’re not even being told what’s planned?” Ursula asked.

She said tech companies should cover the cost of expanding the power grid and water systems to meet their needs.

“These companies are going to make billions and billions of dollars, and the rest of us should not be stuck paying for the price of the damage that these centers bring,” Ursula said. “Innovation should not mean giving big tech just a blank check.”

She hopes lawmakers don’t give in to industry pressure this time.

“It is very real,” she said. “They are coming, and they do cause a very negative impact on many communities.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio.