Editorial: We should commit to keeping data centers away from our water

When Herald writer Taylor Scott Richmond reported on a development company’s request to Snohomish County Public Utility District for a peak demand load of 9.5 megawatts, residents quickly voiced their concerns that the proposed project may be a data center.

An approximately 1.2 million-square-foot project, currently known as Project Cascade, is proposed for the Cascade Industrial Center. Despite assurances from Arlington Mayor Don Vanney that the project is not a data center, skepticism remains among many.

The public’s concern prompted Amazon to announce in a press release its plan to build on the site and that Project Cascade would “support customer delivery in the Central and North Puget Sound area.”

Residents’ concerns were understandable due to the large anticipated need for power. A request for 9.5 megawatts points toward a very power-hungry facility. It would conceivably be enough electricity to power a large manufacturing plant, a large cold storage warehouse, a charging hub for an entire fleet of EV vehicles, a university campus or a regional theme park. It’s no wonder that fears of a possible data center grew quickly.

https://www.heraldnet.com/2026/06/06/editorial-we-should-commit-to-keeping-data-centers-away-from-our-water/